


Hanamura no kisetsu (愛 の 季節)

by Ziane



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Violence, Blow Jobs, Canon-Typical Violence, Crush at First Sight, Drinking, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family Drama, Female Hanzo, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Love Bites, Oral Sex, Romance, Rule 63, Sex, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Smoking, Smut, Tattoos, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-10 15:37:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12914922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ziane/pseuds/Ziane
Summary: Jesse McCree has to leave America in a hurry with his friend Genji Shimada when they pissed off the wrong people.  Many secrets has been shared between them, but Genji never gave him a hint about his sibling or his past in Hanamura. A surprise awaits Jesse on Japan, one he didn't expect but that will change his life forever.Thank you so much @Ilyasviel for beta-reading and helping me with all my stupid doubts and typos!Disclaimer: Hanzo is a woman





	1. Summer

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a cheesy love story between a Female Hanzo and McCree. It takes place in Hanamura and it is divided in four Chapters, one for each season.

_Lured to the dazzle_

_of your alabaster skin_

_in the dragon’s lair._

 

“Welcome to Japan, McCree,” Genji told him, breathing the air of his home-country and waiting for the car he had arranged to pick them up.

“Same ol’ shit, kid, this is just an airport,” McCree said, immediately lighting a smoke.

“Wait until we get to Hanamura and see the old house, it is the perfect place for a vacation.” Genji was smiling, anticipating the warmth that coming back home sank into your heart, even if your family wasn’t perfect.

“Are we callin’ it a vacation now?” The cowboy raised his eyebrows at him when an opulent limousine stopped right in front of them. Genji opened the door for him with a mocking bow inviting him to get inside. “Alrighty, vacation it is.” The interior was comfortable and luxurious, the thing even had a mini-bar inside, and McCree didn’t lose time to fix himself a whiskey. “You sure your folks don’t mind me staying? He asked Genji.

“It’s just Hanzo and me there, mostly Hanzo.”

“And he doesn’t mind?” McCree asked.

Genji laughed at the cowboy, earning a frown from him. “It’d be a nice surprise, you’ll see.” McCree finished off his cigarette and tossed it out the window. “The house is huge, we have enough guest rooms, we even have an onsen outside. The gardens are amazing too, the house is up on a hill and it is an incredible place to spend some time, and not to be found,” Genji winked at him.

“Ya’ lost me at the onsen, sweetheart,” McCree said.

“An onsen is a hot spring,” Genji tried to explain. “We have a natural one just for us”

“A water tank?” The cowboy knew how to be annoying.

Genji rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t worry about it now.”

“Y'all very fancy here in Japan,” McCree complained again, putting his hat on his face to take a quick nap.

 

It had been a long ride there, McCree sensed the car stopping and lifted his hat to watch through the window. His old cowboy boots made a crunching noise in the loose gravel of the path. He and Genji walked between cherry trees until a beautiful wooden house emerged between them. It wasn’t as big as he had imagined, but definitely not small. It looked like an old Japanese house from the outside but a classic European style on the inside as he took a peek inside. McCree whistled. “You’re living in high cotton here,” he loudly said. Genji chuckled and led him further in.

The cowboy stood still in the middle of the living room, looking at the sliding glide door facing the garden, not because the view of the garden itself was enrapturing, but because of the vision of a black-haired woman in a silk robe, laying on a brown leather armchair truly was tantalizing. Her back on one arm, and her beautiful long legs resting and hanging on the other. He didn’t even notice she was reading, distracted with the exposing skin on her thigh, which she modestly covered with the robe, but her right hand wasn’t fast enough for McCree’s sight, and the image of her white alabaster skin was burned into his brain.

“Have you missed me, sis?” Genji asked playfully, looking at the cowboy and his reaction.

“You didn’t tell me your _brother_ had such nice legs, ya’ fucking tease,” he said to Genji. The cowboy chuckled and touched the hat brim as a hello to the lady, who was glancing at them with a noxious look in her eyes. She mumbled something in Japanese and left the room, clearly annoyed at their presence. “I fancy ‘em with a temper.”

“And you don’t know the half of it,” Genji sighed. “Follow me, I’ll show you your room.”

 

As soon as Genji left him alone in his room, McCree crashed in the bed with a loud groan, a mixture of pain and pleasure, easing the pain in his back at the ten hours flight. He took off his hat and let it hanging on the table lamp beside the bed. His robotic arm and cowboy boots followed the same fate as the hat, making a loud noise on the floor when he dropped them. Another grunt escaped his mouth. He closed his eyes and her image startled him without a warning. She was barefoot, he remembered, following the recently acquired memory, her white-pale skin looked soft to the touch, or so he imagined. His eyes reached the high pitches of her thigh when her hand came in the way, long thin fingers around the slippery silk, denying him the licentious peek he was taking. The sleep drifted him away quickly, rekindling over, and over again the vision of her, leaving a sweet aftertaste in his mouth. He only dreamed of dragons that night, dragons that wrapped around him tightly enough to make him feel fear. Sheer, plain fear.

 

McCree woke up the next day with a hell of a headache. He had been sleeping for more than twelve hours and it was past afternoon. _Damn jetlag_ , he thought. He went to the private bathroom of his room and relieved himself. _I might as well take a shower, I stink_ , he thought. When he finished getting tidied up, the cowboy took his hat and ventured himself outside his room. The living room was empty, the glide doors open, letting a warm breeze inside. He heard a muffled conversation coming out of what he assumed was the kitchen.

“Everything is worse, Genji, since you left,” a feminine voice said.

“I couldn’t stay here, sis,” Genji apologized.

“You should have stayed in America with your cowboy,” she said. Hanzo had a smirk on her face when she saw McCree standing on the doorstep, and she quickly resumed her steady face. Genji turned around and smiled at the man.

“Good morning, well, good afternoon,” Genji said.

“Genji. Missy,” he smiled at Hanzo while he was taking off his hat with a bow. If she was amused by his old cowboy trick her face didn’t show it. He noticed the tattoos all over her left arm, she was wearing a short-sleeved kimono that revealed the intricated Japanese design on her skin. He wondered how further they would go up to her back or down her hips and a dirty smirk tinted his face.

“Well, sis, let me introduce you to Jesse McCree,” Genji said, “a good friend of mine.”

She tilted her head respectfully, noticing how the cowboy was admiring her ink. “I’ll leave you two alone.” She stood up, and the loose fabric of her silky trousers made a barely noticeable noise as she moved. “I have business to attend.” She stopped at the doorstep next to the cowboy. “I would appreciate if you referred to me as Hanzo from now on, Mr. McCree,” she said to him.

“Whatever you say, sweetheart,” he said, grinning like he just spotted a new challenge. Her death-like glance only made him grin wider. He followed her with his eyes until she disappeared outside the garden.

“Don’t mess with her, Jesse,” Genji warned him. “She can kill you in ten different ways before you even realize what’s happening.”

 “Lookin’ forward to that,” he said, sitting next to him and pouring himself a mug of coffee, leftovers from this morning, probably. “What’s up with the sweet peach?”

Genji sighed. “Hanzo is the first-born of the Shimada clan, my parents were expecting a boy to take over the responsibilities and the family, but they got a girl. Not even my birth eased my father’s disappointment,” Genji carefully explained.

“Can't she take his place as a woman?” McCree curiously asked. “You, Japanese people, are crazy.”

“She can, and she is willing to, she had always worked hard to please my father. She trained herself until extenuation since a very early age, she learned how to fight, how to survive, how to kill… it was never enough for him.” Genji’s voice lowered as sadness invaded his eyes.

“Your dad seems like an asshole to me,” McCree added, sipping his coffee.

“They’re too much alike, Hanzo and my dad,” Genji breathed in.

“I bet she’s more beautiful,” the cowboy raised an eyebrow at Genji.

Genji chuckled. “The more my father rejected her the more she transformed herself into exactly what he wanted. Hanzo took over the responsibilities that fell under a first-born, she’s the family assassin, she has fought countless times for the family honor, and still, she isn’t good enough for my dad.”

“Why don’t you take over the Clan?” Now that McCree got the little shit singing he wasn’t going to stop asking.

“Hanzo has claimed her right as first-born, our rules are simple. She doesn’t want me to get involved in this and become… what she is, a cold-blooded killer,” Genji was surprised at how easily the words came out of his mouth. He really trusted McCree.

“And there I thought my family was messed up because my dad beat me up from time to time,” McCree reclined on the chair and sighed.

“Hanzo is still my dad’s right hand, especially when there are loose ends to take care of, but he is obsessed with getting Hanzo married to get rid of her, and the shame that he thinks she brings to the Shimada clan, being thirty-six years old and unmarried.”

“I’ll marry the sweet plum,” McCree told him.

Genji’s laughter was higher than usual. “That would kill my father.” He tried to catch his breath. “She has to marry an ally clan in less than a year or my father will ostracise her for good”

“So that’s what’s wrong with the dovey.” McCree finished his coffee in silence, barely listening to Genji’s banter about going out later, he was still trying to figure out were those tattoos ended.

 

Later that night, and a lot of whiskeys down their throats, Genji and McCree stumbled into the living room between laughs and chuckles. A pleasant night full of karaoke, drinks and cute Japanese girls, a night coming to an end. “One more round,” the cowboy urged him. Genji fetched them some glasses and some expensive whiskey while McCree contemplated the armchair. It’s like he could still see her there, the hand quickly covering her skin again. He was lost in the memory, taking a seat right there, the scrunch of the leather sounded loudly at these wee hours. Then he felt an unexpected breeze at his left side. Her. Hanzo’s movements so sleek he almost missed it.

“That’s my seat,” she said, a warning tinging her words. McCree looked at her angry dark eyes and frowned when he saw the bow and arrows at her back, the strange clothes, and the bandage sticking out her chest. Her tattoed arm was completely exposed and he admired the beautiful colors up her shoulder and down her forearm. Quick mouth as he was, he had no words, he didn’t even remember what she had said to him to spit a proper answer. Genji came back with two whiskeys.

“Goodnight, sis,” Genji said, happily drunk.

Hanzo took one of the drinks and emptied it quickly, she was wearing her kyudo-gi, which meant she had just come back from a Shimada clan assignment. She reached for the bottle and poured another drink into the same glass, handing it to McCree.

“Yer’ hurt darlin’,” the cowboy said, taking the glass, briefly touching her fingers in the process, and glancing at the dried blood on her right arm.

“It’s not mine.” She looked at Genji. “I’m glad you’re having fun, little brother, while I take care of your responsibilities.”

“Please, not now,” Genji begged her with his words and his eyes.

McCree was studying Hanzo, her movements, her long dark hair tied up with a bow, and the tension in her muscles like she was going to snap without a warning. She drank again directly from the bottle and glanced at the cowboy, that was finishing his drink already. Hanzo poured another one for him. McCree smiled and nodded at her. “Much obliged,” he said.

“Keep your hands off my whiskey,” she said to Genji, leaving the room as silently as she had come in. Genji stuck his tongue out to her and pouted at the reprimand.

“She’s a bitch,” he said.

“A darn beautiful one,” the cowboy said slowly enjoying his whiskey.

 

McCree's mouth tasted like ragged whiskey, tongue disgustingly dry. He fell asleep in the armchair, recognizing the scrunch of the leather at his movement. He lifted his hat adjusting to the light when he saw her laying on the couch. Hanzo’s perfect feet and shins right in front of him. He drank the view like a thirsty man in the desert would drink the water. The cowboy followed her shape with his eyes, she was wearing the same silky robe, the same voluptuous thigh mocking him, too far away from his reach. There was no lazy hand trying to cover it up this time, his eyes relished on the view until his gaze met Hanzo’s. Unreadable eyes, a puzzled look between feral and searing fixed on him. He noticed the book in her hands, desperately trying to run away from those eyes, from the pressure he was feeling in his stomach and the knot settled in his throat. Maybe he was just thirsty, maybe it had nothing to do with the dragon in the room.

Hanzo listened to the slight grunt leaving McCree’s mouth. He was awake. She watched him lifting his hat and staring at her legs. Still, like a statue, her first instinct was to cover herself from the cowboy, to deny him again the luxury of her body, but she was curious, no one had looked at her like that in her whole life. Maybe she was wrong, but she saw hankering when their eyes met, when she looked past those whiskey-colored eyes that evaded her way too soon. A few moments passed before either of them spoke.

“You’re still in my spot,” Hanzo told him.

“If you like this spot so much maybe you should sit on my lap, darlin’,” McCree flirted. The only way to stop this damn woman from bearing his soul was to push her away now before it was too late, and yet, he didn’t know if he had the courage to do that.

“Does it work being a shameless flirt, cowboy?” Hanzo said, closing the book and sitting on the couch, her legs now away from his eyes.

 _Thank God_ , he thought. “More than you’d expect, sweet plum.” He stood up and yawned loudly, heading to the kitchen to grab himself some water, and some peace of mind.

 

The days at Hanamura went by slowly but surely, it was already the middle of the summer, and the heat was only bearable at night. Genji kept McCree busy most of the time between dinners, poker gigs, and boxing fights. But the cowboy liked being home, wandering around the gardens, just enjoying himself and the peace that, for once in his god damn life, he had earned. He tried to stay away from Hanzo and, at the same time, to find any chance to talk to her and use one of his old-fashioned cowboy pick-up lines. He had managed to make her smile, a sweet brief smile that warmed his heart, and made him blush like a young cowboy asking a girl out at the barn dance. He used to watch her taking care of the flowers in the garden, pretending he was smoking, they even had shared a cigarette or two. He particularly liked to wait for her in the armchair and revel in the looks she usually gave him, coming back home and finding him there, grinning at her like he had won a battle every single time. One day she rolled her eyes at him and he thought it was the cutest thing he had ever seen her do until she said: “One day, cowboy, I’m going to sit on your lap and you won’t know what to do with me.” That had caught him so off-guard that he almost stumbled over his words saying: “I ain’t gonna complain, sugar pot.”

Hanzo got used to the cowboy around the house quickly, he wandered around, and sometimes looked for her company. Though there were some boundaries not so clear, like her armchair. The man was obsessed with it, and every single time she came back home from a meeting or a dinner, he was sitting there, waiting for her with that sexy stupid smile on his face, framed by the stubble of his jaw and the hat on his head. That was another annoying thing, the hat, he wore that thing everywhere, anytime, even inside the house, he slept with the damn thing on. On her armchair. She had gotten to know him a little better, who he was and where he came from, and she saw the tenderness in him. When he wasn’t a shameless flirt, his pick-up lines were the most inappropriate and sometimes obscene thing she had ever heard, and yet she had to repress a smile or a guffaw once in a while. This cowboy was so frustrating that it started getting under her skin.

McCree and Genji were going to the Onsen outside, a private place for the family, lucky enough to have placed the house near a natural hot spring. The cowboy wasn’t a fan of the water tank, as he called it, and this was the first time Genji had convinced him to finally try it.

“Let me get this straight kid, you made me take a shower earlier, so I can take a bath now?” The cowboy complained. “And I have to be naked in front of you with only that stupid little towel to cover my naughty bits?” The Onsen was smoldering at the warmth of the water, and the rocks formed a staircase into the water.

“Don’t be a show-off, McCree, you’ll manage,” Genji said, getting rid of the big towel on a conveniently placed bench, and covering himself with the small one. “See?”

The path inside the water led to a narrow hall that turned left and finally opened up into the big pool of water. There was a lot more privacy than you’d initially thought, it was illuminated by some artificial torches, and the dark of the night helped with the intimacy. McCree was walking behind Genji, trying not to stare at the man’s ass and focusing instead on gathering his privates in the squared towel.

“There’s a lot more Jesse down here than you know about, kid,” He gave up, as the water reached his waist.

“And I don’t need to know, thanks, buddy,” Genji said.

“Neither do I,” Hanzo said, looking at them annoyed at their presence. “I guess my relaxation bath is ruined.”

“What?” McCree asked, embarrassed looking at Genji, that was sitting next to her. “We can come back later, are you going to take a bath with your sister?”

“It is a public onsen, Jesse,” Genji told him. “It is a tradition.” Hanzo covered her mouth with a hand to hide her smirk.

“You, Japanese people, are crazy,” the cowboy stated, sitting between Hanzo and Genji. The water wasn’t transparent, the first thing he checked, glancing at Hanzo. The woman had closed her eyes, both her arms on the edge of the rocks, revealing just enough of her cleavage to leave McCree breathing faster. He was reacting to her, so he focused on her tattoos, that got lost in the water. He positively knew it had to end near her hips, or maybe further down. Hanzo looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

“If we’re going to be here long I’m going to take my robotic arm off if you don’t mind,” he bluffed, taking off the prosthetic and leaving it behind him. It was always a relief to get rid of the extra weight, and he was more comfortable without it.

“Sure, man,” Genji said, reclining on the edge with his eyes closed.

Hanzo moved and turned around to look at McCree. She looked at the cowboy curiously, resting her head on her left arm. Her wet hair stuck on her back.

“See something you like, sweet thing?” McCree asked.

“May I check your robotic arm, cowboy?” She asked, looking at him.

McCree stared at her deep black eyes for a moment. “How can I say no to that peachy face? Suit yourself.” He nodded behind him, granting her permission to inspect the device. She reached to grab the robotic arm and touched the cowboy’s shoulder in the process, making him flinch, splattering water with his movement. Hanzo smiled, and inspected the prosthetic, feeling the weight of it between her hands.

“It is rather heavy, cowboy,” Hanzo said, tilting her head.

“You ain’t telling me nothin’ I don’t know, sweetheart, my left shoulder aches every now and then,” McCree confessed.

Hanzo clasped her hand with the robotic one and made McCree smile with tenderness, it was his hand after all. Then she closed the fingers in a punch and inspected the joints in the knuckles. She played and moved them around one by one, thoroughly. “It is so very well made, I’m impressed,” she finally said.

“I’m cock-a-hoop there’s something you fancy about me, darlin’,” the cowboy said with a smirk.

Hanzo took a peek at him, and the cowboy was sure he had seen a genuine smile there at his flirting. She measured the hand with her own. It was huge, but it felt incredibly soft as she caressed it carefully. The forearm of the prosthetic was resting on her chest, covered by the water. She brought the fingers closer to her eyes to get a proper look, to check if they had fingerprints.

“You know sweet pie, I hate to break to you, but I can still feel my arm in your hands,” McCree said with a grin all over his mouth, showing a golden tooth. Hanzo gasped and dropped the arm. The metal prosthetic sank into the water, to end up resting on her lap. She looked at McCree with the cutest worrying face at what had just happened.

The cowboy’s smile transferred to his gaze, wrinkling the sides of his eyes as he started laughing loudly, coughing between chuckles. When he was about to stop, he roared with laughter again, and it echoed in the onsen. His laugh was hoarse and husky, what you’d expect from a smoker. Genji joined him and both men pat themselves on the back at the deception.

“Want me,” McCree couldn’t bring himself to stop chuckling, “want me to fetch it for you, honey?” He said to Hanzo, who was looking at him with a rancorous expression on her face. “Oh darlin’ aren’t you cute when you’re angry,” he kept teasing her and saw her white pale cheeks turn bright pink, the blush extended down her neck to her chest. It had nothing to do with the warm water.

“Stupid cowboy,” Hanzo finally said, repressing a smile and covering the side of her face with one hand to conceal her face, still glancing at him through her fingers. But McCree saw the smile he was looking for, that sweet gift that made his heart thump faster as if he was still young and naïve. What in the hell had this woman done to him?

“Yer’ face is too pretty to be kept out of sight, honey bunch,” he said, and Hanzo lowered her hand, grabbed the prosthetic and gave it to the cowboy.

“Shut up,” she said, repressing the laughs.

“Anytime, darlin’.” The cowboy finally leaned back and relaxed.

“I’m still here, in case you have forgotten,” Genji coughed, annoyed at the stupid flirting.

 

McCree had been waiting for her well into the night when he had decided he was tired enough to go to his own bed. He woke up at dawn, and instead of falling asleep again he stood up, put on his left arm and sneaked into the garden through the sliding door of his bedroom. The summer was almost over, and it was chilly, he shivered and walked around the peaceful surroundings until he entered the living room to find Hanzo there. She was sleeping on one of the couches, facing the back. _Now that her spot is free she uses the couch, women_ , he thought.

The cowboy saw a bottle of sake at the feet of the couch. _That disgusting broth_. She was wearing those weird clothes again, she had called it Kyudo something, he didn’t remember, but her left arm and back were uncovered and he saw the bandages underneath it loosened and tangled. Her disheveled hair covered her face and made him wonder how his hand would feel wrapped in it. McCree smiled and shook his head, grabbing a blanket and getting closer to her as silently as he could, to not wake her up, though, given the amount of alcohol she had taken, Hanzo was probably passed out for good. The instant the fabric touched her, she turned around with a life-threatening look in her barely opened eyes, and a well-wielded knife right into McCree’s throat. The cowboy only had time to grasp the blade with his metal hand in a desperate attempt not to be stuck.

“It’s me, darlin’,” he said, breathing faster. Hanzo blinked twice and recognized the friendly face, the death look in her eyes yielded to a rueful one as a gasp left her lungs. “It’s alright,” the cowboy smiled at her. Hanzo lowered the knife and took McCree’s robotic hand to press her face on it. He felt the soft pressure and cursed at the damn fake hand for not letting him feel more. Then she kissed the palm and the cowboy’s heart thumped in his chest, unable to control it. Hanzo turned around to sleep again, and she let the old cowboy cover her with the blanket. _She really is drunk as a skunk_ , he thought. McCree sat in the leather armchair, and looked at his palms, resting on his legs, looking where her lips had been. Her sweet soft deadly lips. _Now I don’t want to take the damn thing off_ , he thought and wished he had his hat to cover his face and the blush on his cheeks.


	2. Autumn

Like roaring embers,

the Wolf and the Dragon burn

between orange leaves.

 

The bright blue skies slowly turned into a warm orange twilight as the autumn took over Hanamura. The garden was a mixture of green, brown, orange and yellow. McCree would spend hours staring at the landscape. He had no intention to come back to America anytime soon. They will be probably still looking for him to collect the bounty, so laying low a little longer wouldn’t hurt anyone. And, in the meantime, Hanzo brightened up his days and darkened his nights with dreams of the impossible, of something that he didn’t understand, but that kept him getting out of the bed in the mornings with yearning.

McCree was taking his morning walk around the property when he saw Hanzo kneeling in front of the flower garden. She was wearing a buttoned blue shirt that contrasted with the warm colors of the land. He approached her, his cowboy boots too loud in the terrain to go unnoticed by Hanzo. She glanced up at him and smiled, inviting him to come over.

“Mornin’ sweetheart,” he tipped his hat, lifting it slightly. “What ya’ doin’?” He clumsily sat next to her, complaining at his joints, not being what they used to, and earning a roll of eyes from her at his excessiveness.

“I’m transplanting some of these orchids hoping they will survive the winter inside,” Hanzo explained, continuing with her task. McCree watched her work, enjoying the view of her hands manipulating the delicate flowers cautiously. Little white hairs showed at her hairline when her hair was tied up, giving up her age. He thought it was lovely, and he wished he could remove from her face that naughty lock of hair that was always getting in the way, making her blow it away too often.

“Pretty flowers,” he said, “but not as pretty as you, darlin’.” He knew she might be tired already of his stupid lines, but he couldn’t help it, he had always been a flirt, and it was the only thing he could do around her besides blushing and grinning like a teenager in his almost forty years old. McCree tried to touch one of the flowers, and Hanzo gently placed her hand over his to stop him.

“They’re very delicate, cowboy,” Hanzo said. “You can look, but don’t touch.”

He enjoyed the brief contact for as long as it lasted, her skin looked so white against his, punished by the sun over the years. _Look but don’t touch_ , he thought. Just a reminder of what she was to him, something unattainable, out of his reach no matter what.

“Do you mind?” McCree asked Hanzo, with a cigarette in his mouth and the lighter ready.

“Not at all,” she said, and he lighted the smoke and inhaled deeply, then he let the air come out from his nose and mouth.

“Nasty habit, I know,” he apologized.

“Make yourself useful and give me a drag, cowboy.” McCree complied, and moved his hand closer to her lips so she could trap the cigarette. He watched the tip burn uniformly as she breathed in, to then let the smoke leave her mouth slowly. “What would be of us without our nasty habits?” she said, smiling at him.

“Nothin’ sweet pie, nothin’ at all.”

 

McCree came back to his room that night earlier than usual. The house was empty and lonely without the Shimadas, who were attending a family dinner, too private to bring a foreign in. He was taking off his hat and boots, sitting on the bed, when he saw it. On top of the bureau that presided the room. A beautiful white orchid.

 _Hanzo must’ve left it here for me_ , and he smiled at the thought.

The cowboy stood up to inspect the flower. He swallowed nervously, looking at the white petals of the tall flower, and found himself smiling in the mirror in front of him. His smile disappeared when he didn’t recognize the man on it. He didn’t deserve to be happy, to feel this way. He didn’t deserve her, and more important, Hanzo didn’t deserve a man like him, an outlaw with nothing but a cowboy hat and his Peacekeeper. McCree had nothing to offer but pain and regret, and yet, he felt the warmth in his heart every time he thought of her. Her presence soothed him like no one before. They had nothing in common, but they were made for each other, that’s what he wanted to believe.

 _I’m too old for this_ , he thought. _Too old for love_ . He knew he was lost the second he had seen her in that armchair, and every time he had dreamed about dragons and woken up with a speed-up breath and a pounding heart. _Damned cowboy, what have you done to yourself? She can’t be yours. She will never be yours._ He sighed and dismissed his reflection, old cowboy with deep scars, messy beard, and eyes full of repent. _And I fuckin’ love the damn woman_ , he chuckled.

 

Hanzo lay on a conveniently placed divan outside on the porch. She was getting her back inked again, and the artist preferred natural lightning. She was facing down, comfortably leaning on some cushions, relaxing at the muffled pain of the needle on her lower back, when she saw McCree’s characteristic way of walking far away down the path. She smiled, knowing no one would see her, and hoping he’d stopped by. Hanzo had been looking for the cowboy’s company more often than usual. She got used to having him around, walking with him in the evenings, and just keeping each other company. Sometimes in silence, and sometimes engaged in long conversations.

McCree saw her in the distance, he fixed his hat and walked towards her. While he was getting closer, he realized why she was there. Her robe was down to her low back, completely exposed, while someone was tattooing her. He swallowed and thought about turning around, but it was too late, he was too close, and she had already seen him.

“Evenin’ ladies,” he said, tapping his hat and greeting both women.

“How was your evening walk without me, cowboy?” Hanzo teased him.

“Ugly and borin’ darlin’,” he said and lowered the brim of his hat, taking a mouth-watering peek at her back, from her shoulder blades, past her column, to end in her back dimples. _I knew it had to go further down her hips_ , he thought and smirked. He decided to sit on the stairs of the porch, maybe that way, with the sight of her ravishing body away from him, he would stop being a dirty old man getting a swell in his pants. He lighted a smoke. “Does it hurt?”

“I’ve been here for an eternity,” she sighed. “But it’s bearable.”

“Are you gettin’ my name on you, sweetheart?” McCree said, distracted by the noise of the tattoo machine and the hand of the artist, grasping at her backside.

“It’s a dragon, not a wolf.” Hanzo smiled at him and lifted her right hand so he could hand her the cigarette. She took a long drag.

“You ain’t gonna cover your whole body, right sugar? Because it would be a damn shame if you ask me,” the cowboy said, covering the shyness of his eyes with the brim of the hat, but showing a craving smile in his mouth. She handed the cigarette back not without taking another drag.

“Just half of it,” Hanzo pretended to ignore his insinuations, but every time he glanced at her body, every time he licked his lips while doing it, she felt a shudder all over her body. It was worse when McCree smiled, that sweet naughty smile he had for her sometimes. When she saw that one, she felt butterflies in her stomach. The cowboy was sitting with a hand resting on his right knee and his robotic arm on his lap, fidgeting with the remains of the smoke between his fingers, giving it a short last drag before tossing it away.

“It’s getting chilly here in Hanamura,” McCree said.

“I haven’t noticed,” she rolled her eyes at him.

“Now that you mention it, darlin’,” McCree said with a mischievous smile. “Want me to cover you or somethin’? Don’t want you catching a cold.” Hanzo chuckled, and the tattoo artist complained and blamed the cowboy in Japanese. “Here you go,” McCree took off his serape and covered Hanzo’s back with it, without disturbing the ongoing work. He bit his lip and repressed a grunt, glancing at her exposed butt-cheek, and lowered his hat to avoid staring too long at the feverish sight. “I’ma see you at supper, darlin’.” The cowboy walked away blaming himself for the swell in his pants and the lust in his head. _Come on, old man, you’re not that young anymore_ , he thought. _That sinful body is out of this world and now is carved in my skull._

Hanzo perfectly caught McCree’s thirsty look at her body and trembled, not from the cold, but from the delight at being desired and wanted. The thing he had put over her smelled awfully at the cowboy, and yet she buried her face in it, closing her eyes and feeling the rouse down her body. “Stupid cowboy,” she mumbled.

 

McCree had a hard time represing the chuckles watching Hanzo kneeling in front of the fireplace while the cowboy waited for her to give up, and ask for his help. He was enjoying a whiskey older than him because, maybe Hanzo didn’t let Genji put his hands over her personal stockpile, but she spoiled the cowboy very often, alleging it was impolite to drink alone. And now McCree was enjoying the view of the older Shimada, desperately trying to start a fire old-style, as the automatic electric fire was mysteriously broken.

“I’m going to call and get this fixed as soon as possible,” Hanzo gave up, touching her face, and leaving traces of ashes on her cheek.

“This ol’ cowboy may know a trick or two about starting fires, darlin’,” he said, winking at her and savoring another sip of his drink.

Hanzo rolled her eyes at him. “Would you help me start a fire, cowboy?”

“I thought you’d never ask, sugar plum.” He stood up and kneeled next to her, smirking at the mark on her face. The cowboy opened the damper between chuckles and removed all her previous work arranging the logs. He stocked the large fuel logs first on the bottom of the fire grate, and then some smaller ones. Then he carefully prepared the kindling layer with some small twigs to top off the stack.

“You won’t let the fire breathe, and it won’t set,” Hanzo complained.

“Hold your horses, sweetheart, this will burn for hours, and you will be snuggling into this cowboy in no time,” he said smiling, though he knew she would never do that and, even so, he felt the jitters at the possibility. The cowboy took out his zippo and had to spin the wheel several times before the flint sparked and allowed him to light a newspaper ball and some more tinder on top of the twigs. “There ya’ go.” Hanzo had a skeptical look in her eyes.

“Let’s clean our hands before the fire extinguishes itself,” she said as a know-it-all.

McCree nodded his head at the stubbornness of the woman and followed her into the kitchen. She quickly washed her hands in the sink and dried them, looking at the cowboy. _He is smiling too much today_ , she thought. He put his hands under the stream of water and realized his long-sleeved shirt was getting wet.

“Shit,” he complained. Hanzo came next to him and unbuttoned the sleeves to roll them up to his elbow. His skin was warm and hairy. “Thank you, sugar,” the cowboy said. “You still got a little something,” he wrinkled his nose, “right there.” Hanzo touched her face to find the mark of ashes on it and left to find a mirror. The cowboy finished washing his hands, she had given him goosebumps and then headed to the living room.

 

When Hanzo came back to the room, the fire was burning bright and the crackling noise of the flames filling the room. McCree was sitting comfortably on the big leather couch with a satisfied smile all over his face. Hanzo ignored his little victory and approached him with a cozy blanket in her hands.

”I’m surprised you’re not in my armchair, cowboy,” she said, picking on him.

“I thought you’d want to enjoy it tonight, darlin’,” McCree said, resting his robotic arm on the back of the couch and the glass of his second whiskey on his right knee.

“Very generous of you,” Hanzo ironically said, walking towards his favorite seat, but she hesitated. They were home alone. There was no chance of Genji running into them this evening, so she just sat next to him on the couch. She felt the cowboy tense when she put the blanket over her legs and leaned back into his chest and shoulder. “Do you mind?” she asked, glancing at him. “You said something about snuggling before, didn’t you?” Hanzo teased him.

The cowboy stumbled over his words. ”Now you got me grinnin’ like a possum eatin’ a sweet tater,” he said, feeling her legs against his and the weight of her head over his shoulder. He breathed in the floral scent of her hair and tried to lower the brim of an inexistent hat to cover the blush of his cheeks.

“No hat would save you from that blushing, cowboy,” Hanzo said, and snuggled a little more into the cowboy’s warm body, feeling the weight of his robotic hand now over her shoulder.

Genji ended up coming back home earlier than planned and had been surprised at Hanzo and Mcree, cozy and snuggled on the couch in front of the fireplace. Genji didn’t pick on them, something unusual for him, instead, the three of them talked and laughed long into the night, until the last embers of the fireplace lay cold.

 

McCree was hypnotized by her and the noise her impossible high-heels made on the wooden floor every time she entered and left the living room. She was going out. He didn’t know where or who with, but Hanzo was breathtaking tonight. The cowboy was sitting in her armchair, following her with his gaze. Hanzo was wearing a long black dress with a slit on her left side that went way too far up for McCree’s heart-sake. The dress was tied up at the neck, so her shoulders and back were exposed, and the beautiful colors of her tattoos stood out more than ever. He swallowed again, thirsty and jealous of the thick fur coat that now covered her body, and, of course, of the lucky bastard. He stood up and poured himself another drink.

“Looking good, sis,” Genji said.

“Another arranged date,” she sighed. “I’m getting tired of father’s little games.”

“Maybe you’ll like the guy, and you’ll fall crazy in love with him,” Genji joked, and resumed the tapping on his phone.

Hanzo rolled her eyes at Genji and took a peek at the silent cowboy in the room, knowing he had been looking at her thoroughly while she was getting ready. She got closer to him and grabbed his glass to take a sip of the brown-colored whiskey.

“Did I say yer’ the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen in my life, darlin’?” the cowboy’s voice was husky and deep, and his eyes were undressing her shamelessly.

“I’ve heard that, Jesse!” Genji said, without lifting his eyes from the phone.

Hanzo narrowed his eyes and repressed a smirk. At first, she despised the cowboy’s attention and the stupid flirting, and now she loved to feel his eyes on her. “Save some for later, cowboy,” she said, pointing at the bottle of whiskey.

As she was leaving, McCree looked at her beautiful shape again, a hint of jealousy sinking in his heart, not being the lucky bastard to enjoy her company tonight. He blamed his own ass for having feelings for the older Shimada and not being able to help himself. _A loser with a crush, that’s what I am_ , he thought. And still, sometimes hope filled his heart when he and Hanzo were spending time together, laughing and talking, hope that vanished quickly when he remembered who he was, and who she was. McCree deeply sighed when he heard the front door and knew she was gone, he was nothing but a crazy jealous mess.

“I’ve heard that too,” Genji looked at him.

 

The only thing you could hear at this hours in Hanamura was the cold wind punishing the sliding doors of the garden. McCree was sitting in the armchair, waiting for Hanzo to come back from her date, and wrapping his head around the idea of the woman marrying a yakuza against her will. The whole idea seemed crazy to him. She was so fierce and independent it was hard to believe she was so strongly subdued under the influence of her father. Yet again, what did a cowboy know about the rules of the Shimada Clan or any Japanese clan for that matter? McCree heard the door and lifted his hat enough to see her coming inside. A hint of fear crossed his mind thinking that she might bring company tonight, and he had to repress the impulse to run away from the living room swiftly. Hanzo came in as beautiful as she left, but with a bored-to-death expression all over her face.

“Did you have fun at your date, darlin’? McCree asked.

Hanzo smiled as soon as she realized the cowboy was waiting for her. “I thought it would never end,” she said, walking towards him and grabbing herself a glass, spotting the bottle on the table near McCree. “The guy was presumptuous, unbearable, and boring.”

“Not everyone can be as charmin’ as me, sweet pie,” the cowboy said.

Hanzo sat in the left armrest of the chair, earning a surprised look by McCree. “You, big mouth,” she said, pouring herself a drink. Her leg was touching McCree’s, and his robotic arm was resting at her back.

“My big mouth is one of my qualities,” he smiled at her, still surprised she was so close and, for a second, he thought she was going to sit on his lap. “What’s the urge in marrying you?”

“My father just,” she sighed. “He thinks I’m a failure and wants to get rid of me, that’s all. If I get married, I’m out of the picture. That’s what he wants.”

“Why don’t you tell him to go to hell?”

“Because I’m not a teenager anymore, and this is the yakuza we’re talking about, not a family grudge.” She covered her face with her hand and sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“I ain’t know shit, sweetheart, but you don’t deserve half of it, I can tell you that.”

Hanzo let the glass on the table and snorted, “I really am pathetic.”

McCree pushed her, and made her sit on his left leg, either she would slap him or he would make her smile. “A cowboy waiting for a girl to come back from her date to steal some moments with her,” he chuckled, “that’s pathetic, darlin’.” Hanzo smiled and chuckled, relaxing in his arms and resting her head in the hollow of his neck. He smelled of tobacco, sweat, and whiskey as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hid in the safety he was offering. He held her with his robotic arm around her waist and the other behind her neck, keeping her there against him, enjoying her weight over him, her warmth, and the closeness.

“Aren’t you as pretty as a peach when you smile,” McCree said.

Hanzo played with the hair around the cowboy’s neck, treasuring the luxury of not being alone right there, right now, and just being with her cowboy. McCree watched the slippery fabric of her dress slip down her leg, exposing her thigh, and grabbed the dress to cover her up again, cursing himself for it. Hanzo pressed a hand on his chest to look at McCree, hidden under the brim of his hat. She touched his face and, when he tried to look away, she forced him to look back at her. _I might be dead_ , he thought, and tightened the grasp on her waist, looking at the half smile on her face. Then she looked away, fixing her gaze at the corridor, and suddenly got tense.

“Genji,” she said, rolling her eyes. McCree looked at the door and watched the young Shimada repressing a chuckle in the doorstep.

“I assume your date went well, sis,” Genji finally laughed.

“Kid, I’m going to kick you where the sun don’t shine,” McCree said between chuckles.

“Oh, am I interrupting something?” Genji laughed again, but then stopped, looking at Hanzo. “Father called, he says he needs you.” Hanzo frowned and stood up, giving the cowboy a sweet smile before leaving the room with her brother. And just like that, she slipped away from his arms, like a fickle summer breeze.

 

It was almost December in Hanamura, and the Autumn had settled red and fiery in the garden, stuffing with a layer of crunchy leaves all over. McCree was thoroughly cleaning his Peacekeeper, as the legendary revolver laid disassembled on the table in front of him. He missed shooting things. It had been a while now, and the cowboy felt rusty. He had woken up this morning with an urge for the gun, for the weight of it in his hand and the smell of gunpowder. It was a beautiful revolver, with a long barrel and a dark wooden grip. That gun had been with him longer than most of the people he knew, and it had saved his life countless times over the years. He was attached to the weapon, and it was no secret to anybody. The cowboy finished with the bore brush and assembled the gun at a leisurely pace, enjoying the fitting of the pieces. When everything in his life had fallen apart, this would bring peace again into it. A lively scrub with a cotton rag would let the gun brand-spankin' new. While he was busy with that, McCree spotted Hanzo coming out the garden carrying something in her lap. He saw her crouching in front of one of the big trees.

The cowboy finished up, holstered his gun to his right side, and walked towards her. At this point, he had given up trying to hide his feelings for her, hoping Hanzo would feel the same for him, but the woman was stubborn – figures – and she had been distant and dear depending on the hour. It was driving the cowboy crazy, but he knew she had a lot on her plate with her family and, well, he was just a cowboy.

“Mornin’ sweetheart,” McCree said, startling her, which was unusual.

Hanzo shushed him and pulled his trouser leg to make him crouch next to her. “Look, there, can you see them?” She pointed somewhere at the left side of the tree trunk. McCree noticed she had dried fruits and nuts stacked on her lap, and looked over to spot not one, but two squirrels curiously looking at them.

The cowboy chuckled and smiled at Hanzo, and her pretty face, trying to feed the rodents. “What are you trying to do, darlin’?” he asked.

“I’m making sure they have enough food for the winter,” Hanzo said, placing some of the nuts in the ground a couple of feet in front of them. “But they won’t get near me.”

“Here, give me some,” McCree asked, and traced a road of nuts that ended on her lap. “Now sit with me and don’t pay attention to them.”

Hanzo looked at him and smiled, she didn’t know why this stupid cowboy liked her company, but she craved for his every day. She knew he had feelings for her, she wasn’t stupid, but her situation was complicated, to say the least. Every other man in her life had run away from her as fast as they could when they got to know her. She was an assassin, a monster, and even if they pretended to love her, they just got scared at some point, so she just stopped trying to look for something she didn’t deserve. And then the stupid cowboy showed up, everything but scared.

“Have I told you how pretty you look today, sweet pie?” McCree said, tipping his hat.

Hanzo shook his head. It was getting harder to hide the effect he had on her, and then she noticed the revolver. “Do you plan on shooting things, cowboy?” she asked.

“I was feeling homesick, that’s all,” he said. “And Peacekeeper needed some tidying up.”

“Peacekeeper,” she repeated. “Honorable name for an honorable purpose.”

“Well, not always so honorable, but I ain’t that bad in the end,” McCree said, with that sexy half-smile of his all over his lips.

“On that, we can agree,” she said, smiling at him and watching the cowboy do the same when she felt something in her lap. One of the squirrels ventured to follow the path and was stuffing her cheeks with nuts. McCree drank in the sweet expression of her face, and how her eyes wrinkled and her teeth showed at her smile. _I am so damned_ , he thought. She looked at him and widened the smile, if that was even possible, making the cowboy’s heart thump faster in his chest.

“Greedy little things, these squirrels,” he said, offering a nut to one of them right from his hand. The little rodent took it with a little too much enthusiasm and bit McCree’s fingertip, who cursed out loud “Fuckin’ bastard, he bit me!” the squirrels ran away swiftly to the safety of the tree when the cowboy heard Hanzo’s melodic laugh pouring out of her mouth. He looked at her, surprised, he had never seen her laugh like this. The clean sound of her voice echoed in the peaceful garden, her cheeks were flushed in bright pink and she was holding herself with an arm, trying to stop. McCree chuckled and nodded his head, relishing the sheer happiness Hanzo was granting him. When the laughing eased a little he saw tears shedding down her cheeks, and her hand swiping them away, still trying to catch her breath.

“Honey,” McCree said. “This ol’ cowboy has a new mission in life, and that is making you laugh.”

Hanzo sighed and cupped the cowboy’s face in her hand to place a chaste kiss on his rough cheek. “Stupid cowboy,” she said. McCree grinned like an idiot and set another trail of nuts to lure the squirrels again. _Maybe I can trick her into giving me some more sugar too_ , he thought.

 

More blood in her hands. More blood spilled for nothing. Hanzo had chosen this life freely, but the cruelty of the assassinations her father signed her up for had grown exponentially since the first one. He wanted to break her, to make her give up. It had always puzzled her why her father hated her so much when she had done everything right. She was a warrior, an archer, a dragon, deadly and efficient. The Shimada Clan, the organization, respected her for what she had done for them. But not her father. This night was no different than many other nights before, she knew who she had to kill, and she had done it. An arrow in the heart, quick but painful. Getting out of the building had been risky, it was like someone had alerted them. Nobody saw her coming in, she made sure of that. Nobody knew she was there. But her father. And yet a security squad well-equipped with guns and katanas knew exactly where she was. As her father.

Hanzo fought her way out not without trouble, and when she was cornered and trapped, the dragons had been kind enough to come to her rescue once more. When the blade of a sword had cut her flesh, and she felt the warm dripping blood down her body, she thought about her cowboy. She thought about the one thing she was afraid of losing. The one thing she cared about. But she was home now, standing in a poorly lightened kitchen, trying to remove the bandages to inspect the wound, a task harder than usual with a dislocated arm. _That’s what you get when you miss the shot, and you let them get close to you_ . _I missed the fucking shot_ , Hanzo blamed herself. She removed the top of her kyudo-gi and grunted at the pain in her left shoulder. The cut was on her right side, and, though still bleeding, it was superficial. She tried to bend her right arm to reach the knot of the bandages and grunted in pain again.

“Cowboy,” Hanzo said, feeling his presence in the room before he would even say a word, she didn’t even turn around to look at him. Unlike him, he just came closer and helped to loosen up the knot enough for her to clean up the wound and make sure it wasn’t too bad.

“Looks like you got lucky with that one,” McCree said. Hanzo was facing the sink of the kitchen, and he was behind her, worried sick.

“I need you to put my shoulder back in place, cowboy,” Hanzo asked him. McCree pulled her left arm to the side until her grunt of pain masked the clunk of her shoulder back in place. “Fuck, you didn’t even count,” she complained and sighed at the relief. She covered herself again as best as she could with the kyudo-gi. “You’re awfully quiet tonight.” McCree held her with his right arm above her chest and his robotic arm around her belly, pressing himself at her back. Hanzo leaned back to him and felt his irregular breathing on her cheek. “I missed the shot,” she said.

“We all do sometimes, sweetheart,” McCree’s voice was low, and the rumble made her shiver, which only made him hold her tighter in response.

“I think my own father betrayed me tonight,” she gasped. “I can’t keep doing this anymore.”

“Let this ol’ cowboy help you,” he said, lost in the closeness of their embrace, burying his face in the hollow of her neck. Her pulse sped up, and it made him smile, maybe there was hope for them. Maybe the dragon and the wolf could be together after all.

“Jesse,” Hanzo whispered.

“You’re more than enough for me,” McCree inhaled her scent, trapping her in his arms, and pressing his lips to her bare nape. “Hanzo.” The whispers got lost in the night, but the wounds would heal soon, the ones in the flesh and the ones in the soul. Hanzo had renounced everything in her life, and she wasn’t going to give up on the stupid cowboy who was holding her now. Even the spirit dragons knew she was his.


	3. Winter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one came out longer than I expected but... it was necessary. Thank you so much for leaving kudos!!
> 
> And thank you again @Ilyasviel and @Vulparia for reading and helping me <3

A true-blue cowboy,

frozen in his misfortune,

finds his way again

 

The lush garden was long gone as winter settled in Hanamura. The trees were mostly shed of its leaves and the flowers that had filled the ground were nonexistent. The snow hadn’t been kind enough to show up yet, but according to Hanzo and Genji, it would come after New Year’s Eve. McCree had been worried about Hanzo since the night she had come back hurt. She had been gloomy and distracted, leaving the house often to attend family business. Genji was uneasy too, he knew what his father had tried to do to his sister, and he was angry. She had always taken care of him and had made sure her brother wasn’t swallowed by the criminal organization.

It was hard for McCree to see how two of the people he cared about were suffering without him being able to do anything. They wouldn’t implicate him. It was too risky, and Hanzo wouldn’t allow it, though, given the chance, McCree would jump into it without thinking it twice. Whenever McCree thought about it, he couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of your own father trying to get rid of you. His relationship with his own father had been hectic, and he wasn’t fond of the man, but Hanzo had to deal with betrayal, and it was breaking his heart to see her like that. Even if she always had a smile for him, a hint of love in her eyes, it was soon forgotten and cast away by a shadow. But right now, he was a cowboy with a plan.

“We need more mistletoe, Genji,” McCree said.

“Care to explain me why?” The young Shimada arched an eyebrow at him.

“I’ma goin’ huntin’,” the cowboy winked at him, which deeply perturbed Genji for some reason.

McCree hung it in the main entrance, the kitchen door, and the three doors that enclosed the living room. There was no way of someone getting inside the room without enduring the mistletoe tradition. He only had to make sure he was on the right doorstep at the right time. When he was finishing with the door that led to the rooms, McCree saw Hanzo coming back home and entering the living room.  She looked at the frame of the door and shook her head, smiling at him.

“What are you doing, cowboy?” She said to him, taking off her coat.

“Haven’t you heard, darlin’? It’s almost Christmas,” McCree tipped his hat, and a playful smile appeared on his face while he leaned on the frame door. “Ya’ goin’ to your room?” He arched an eyebrow at her.

Hanzo snorted and repressed a chuckle, with everything that was going on in her life, how could this cowboy make her so happy with so little. “I think I’ll take the long way,” she said, pointing to the sliding doors and heading outside.

“You’re gonna freeze your ass out there, sweet pie,” McCree shouted and sighed. “What a shame…”

 

Two days to Christmas and McCree still hadn’t managed to trick Hanzo into a kiss under the mistletoe. Every time he had waited for her under the doorstep she just dodged him gracefully, not without a smirk. Hanzo was smiling more often, and she was enjoying the cat and mouse game, earning a lot of snorts from Genji most of the time.

 _Stupid cowboy in love_ , McCree thought.

 

When he saw her distracted, decorating one corner of the living room with some Christmas ornaments, he knew it was his chance. The Shimadas weren’t particularly excited about Christmas, they would probably have dinner with the family, but McCree kept bringing it up. He discreetly leaned on the doorstep, trying not to look suspicious, the mistletoe ready above him. McCree stood inside the kitchen, carefully out of sight. He only needed to set the bait, and when he would sense Hanzo approaching the doorframe, roll right next to her, under the mistletoe.

“Sweetheart,” McCree said to Hanzo, and she glanced at the kitchen. “Give me a hand, will ya’?” He tried so hard to repress the smirk on his face.

“What did you do now, cowboy?” Hanzo said, standing up.

McCree heard the steps getting closer, until he jumped forward on the doorstep with a grin on his face, anticipating his victory.

“What do you want, Jesse?” Genji said, looking at him.

“Dang it!” McCree cursed. “I caught the wrong Shimada.”

Hanzo chuckled, watching his brother and the cowboy standing under the mistletoe on the kitchen’s doorstep. “Looks like now, you two have to share some Christmas spirit,” a self-satisfied grin all over her face. McCree shook his head and snorted.

“This is all your fault, Jesse,” Genji said, and the two men exchanged a quick kiss on the cheek. Hanzo smirked and went back to her task.

“Just tryin’ to get some sugar, kid,” the cowboy said and glanced at Hanzo while Genji chuckled.

“Like I haven’t noticed,” he said and patted McCree’s shoulder.

The main door startled them. They weren’t expecting anyone. McCree saw three men entering the living room unceremoniously. Hanzo stood up and tilted her head in a very respectful way while Genji joined her. The three men were wearing neat black suits and a stern face, especially the one in the middle, who approached Hanzo and Genji and started speaking Japanese. The other two stood behind, both armed, McCree guessed. He reached for Peacekeeper, missing the gun on his right and cursing himself for it. He had let his guard down to a false security. The cowboy’s body tensed when the old grey-haired man raised his voice, giving Hanzo a disapproval stare.

 _The fuckin’ bastard himself_ , he thought. The Shimada household head dismissed Genji, who joined the cowboy near the kitchen.

“What’s happenin’?” McCree asked.

“Family business,” Genji’s answer was brief and curt.

McCree stared at Hanzo, her face was harsh and steady, looking at the floor at her feet while her father screamed at her. He hated, deep in his heart, seeing her like this, and moved uncomfortably.

“Don’t. No matter what happens just don’t, please,” Genji begged. But McCree’s attention was fixed in Hanzo, who suddenly looked directly into her father’s eyes, a fearless, death-defying glare.

“Shit, Hanzo, not now,” the young Shimada cursed.

Listening to Hanzo speaking Japanese was mesmerizing, McCree didn’t understand what she was saying, but he positively knew she was angry and fed up with the situation. Then, her father slapped her. Hanzo endured the audacity and lifted her head with pride. He slapped her again. Genji had to block McCree out, shaking his head, and earning a grunt of disapproval from the cowboy, his hands turning into deadly fists at both sides of his body. The Shimada household looked at him with disdain.

“Go back to your country, gunslinger,” he said. “There’s nothing here for you.” McCree was going to bark something at him, but Hanzo was faster.

“You don’t get to threaten my guests, father,” Hanzo warned him.

“We know who you are,” her father gave McCree a smug smile. “Does she?” Then he turned around to say something in Japanese to her daughter and left, after having disturbed the peace they were living into. Hanzo hurried to her room without looking at them. Genji sighed and ran a hand through his green colored hair.

“Y'all gonna tell me what’s going on?” McCree demanded and followed Genji to the couch, where he poured two whiskeys and sat.

“My father won’t admit his responsibility on the foul play he did to her, in fact, he wants her to renounce to her birthright on the criminal organization,” he explained.

“Fine, so she does that and she’s off the hook,” McCree said.

“It’s a bit more complicated. My father has enemies, and the Clan Shimada is nothing without her,” Genji fidgeted with the glass between his hands. “That’s what my father can’t see. He had trusted the wrong people, and he’s destroying everything she had been fighting for.”

“You’re making it complicated,” McCree sighed. “I wanted to punch the guy with my left when he slapped her, what was that for?”

Genji exhaled. “That was my fault. I invited you here under the Shimada Clan protection and she took responsibility for that too.” They both shared some moments in silence, digesting what had just happened.

“Is she in trouble because I’m here?” McCree asked, ready to leave if that meant ensuring her safety.

“They’re just using you as leverage to get to her, and they succeeded.” The cowboy felt the pressure in his chest. “But even if Hanzo renounces, the rival clans won’t be happy, our own organization won’t be happy,” Genji confessed.

“She’s screwed no matter what, that’s what yer’ tellin’ me? McCree let out an exasperated sigh. He didn’t understand what this was about, family grudge, yakuza clans, whatever. The only thing he cared about was Hanzo.

“You have to know Hanzo cares about you, McCree,” Genji confessed. “She will figure it out, and we will be here for her.”

“I ain’t goin’ anywhere without her, Genji,” McCree swore, showing white knuckles.

 

 

McCree watched the dragons in the distance. Electric deep blue dragons, like two deadly ghosts, tangled in each other gracefully, getting closer and closer. He was paralyzed and the only thing he could do was wait until the beasts devoured them. The dragons passed right through him, and he felt how a bitterly cold wave washed all over him. The cowboy startled and suddenly woke up, freezing, with a racing heart. He was shivering, and a cold sweat covered his skin. He grabbed a cozy blanket from the bed and stood up, still trying to remember what had woken him up, an uneasy feeling growing inside his stomach. He didn’t want to go back to his bed just yet, so he went to the living room and saw the sliding door wide open, the cold getting inside the house mercilessly. He went to close the doors when he saw Hanzo outside in the sharp cold of the night.

“Come inside, sweetheart, you’re gonna freeze to death,” McCree said, covering her with the blanket and dragging her to the door, but she resisted. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m done,” Hanzo said. He hugged her and cursed when he realized he hadn’t put his arm on. Her hands grasped around his waist while she buried her face in his chest. Hanzo breathed in his scent and felt the rumble of his heart.

“There, there, honey, I’m here for ya’,” he said, rubbing her back. Then he swallowed, remembering what her father had said earlier: _does she know who you are, gunslinger?_

“I need to clear the air about why I’m here an’ all that,” the cowboy said.

“I know,” Hanzo mumbled. “I know everything.” She felt the shudder of the man in front of her and her lips twitched in a smile.

“I’m an outlaw,” Hanzo tightened her grip and pressed herself against him, making him stubble at his words. “A... killer, a bounty hunter, a despicable roughneck” McCree finished saying.

“Annoying, big-mouthed, noisy, a shameless flirt...,” Hanzo added.

“Hold your horses, you love that one darlin’,” McCree interrupted, making her chuckle. “And you ain’t care?”

She glanced up at him with tenderness in her eyes, and flung her arms around him, covering him with the blanket too.

“Who’s the dragon to judge the wolf?”

McCree hugged her tightly to him, feeling the soft curves of her body under his arm, yearning the closeness he so badly wanted, and then he started chuckling, then laughing. A hoarse loud laugh that she loved.

“What is it you find so funny, cowboy?” Hanzo asked, glancing at him once more. McCree looked above at his head to find the mistletoe branch he had placed there and then looked at her with a wolfish grin.

“You caught me,” she said and granted him a mischievous smile.

McCree blushed under her watchful sight. Now that he had her exactly where he wanted, the cowboy hesitated. It was hard to read her, to know what she was thinking about, what she wanted or not.

“It’s al’ right honey. You don’t ha…”

Hanzo’s lips pressed into his mouth desperately fast, demanding even. He almost stumbled on his own wobbly legs. The cowboy had craved those lips since he had first seen her, and he relished the sweet warmth of her breathing near his mouth, the wetness of her lips, and her body pressing suggestively into his. It was a short kiss, too short for a lover, too long for a friend. Hanzo smiled at the tickling of his slobby beard and his hand, holding her tightly deep down her back. She broke the kiss as unexpectedly as she had started it, looking at him with a gloating attitude.

“‘bout time you gave me some sugar, darlin’,” McCree said, finally getting them inside the house and closing the sliding doors.

They cuddled in the armchair and talked for a long time. The cowboy opened up to her like he hadn’t with anyone in his life before. McCree trusted her and confessed more than he would admit the morning after. And so did Hanzo. They had been mistreated by many in the past, having to lick their wounds on their own. Now they had each other.

 

 

It was the last day of the year. He had arrived at Hanamura six months ago and it looked like yesterday when he thought about it. The brightness of the day seeped through the window and made him blink, not wanting to wake up just yet. The only thing he could think about lately was Hanzo, enticing creature that hogged his mind even in his sleep. McCree had dreamed of dragons again last night, but it was different than the last one. The dragons sneaked around him, warm and inviting, and he felt strangely pleased by it. There was something familiar about them that he couldn’t pinpoint.

His thoughts drifted away from the last night’s dream to find himself thinking about Hanzo and her soft pink lips pressing against his own. If she kissed him now again, he would devour and bit her lips remorselessly, grasping her between his arms until he would hear her moan his name. McCree felt the thirst in his mouth and the swell down his groin. He wanted Hanzo. He ached for her luscious body, to touch her, to feel her against him, under him, above him…

 _I ain’t nothing but flesh and blood_ , he thought, standing up and heading to the shower, cursing himself and his lechery once more.

 

New year’s eve and the house was filled with laughs and conversations from Genji’s friends. Hanzo had decided to indulge her brother and allowed the small reunion. A little party to ease the mood and pretend there was nothing wrong. It worked. McCree got tired soon of the loud friends, and of being the center of attention. You didn’t get to see a real cowboy in Japan very often, much less one like him, with his cattleman hat and his big buckle. Hanzo had enjoyed watching the girls giggling around him and making him questions he obviously didn’t understand. She chuckled and smirked at the snorts and exasperation sighs from the cowboy.

McCree had successfully escaped into the cold night. The garden looked gloomy and he missed the life that had filled it not so long ago. Still, it was a beautiful sight. He sat on the porch with a grunt.

 _I’ma gonna freeze my ass_ , he thought, taking out a cigarette.

The cowboy rummaged for something in his pocket and the side of his mouth twitched into a half smile when he found it. He played with it in his hand, feeling the weight of his brand new lighter, listening to the recognizable click as he opened it, and lighting the cig already in his mouth. He exhaled the smoke slowly into the air, mixed with his breath, and ran his thumb across the Japanese inscription engraved on one side. Like he would guess what it meant by doing so.

 _A mystery to solve, just like her_ , McCree thought, shivering into the cold night.

“I knew you were tough, cowboy, but this is just foolish,” Hanzo said, sitting next to him and covering their legs with a blanket.

He smiled at her, fixing his hat to take a good look at her. “You’re so pretty tonight you could make a hound dog smile, sweetie,” McCree said, offering the cigarette to Hanzo, who took it gladly.

“Did you like it?” Hanzo said, nodding at the lighter in the cowboy’s hands.

“Very much,” he said. “I still feel bad I ain’t got you nothing.” Hanzo handed the cig back and McCree took a drag before tossing it away.

“I wanted you to have something to remember me, cowboy,” she confessed, hiding her hands under the blanket, feeling already her cheeks pink and cold against the breeze.

McCree chuckled and leaned back on the stairs. “Darlin’, there’s no way I could ever forget you,” he said. “Be kind to this ol’ cowboy and tell me what it says, sweet pie.” He lowered his voice and caressed her cheek with his knuckle, stealing a shy smile from her. When Hanzo opened her mouth, a countdown and the cheering coming from the living room interrupted them. They both chuckled.

“Happy New Year, Jesse,” she whispered, leaning forward to him and tilting her head. McCree’s heart thumped hard, and he put his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer.

“Happy New Year, Hanzo, darlin’,” he mumbled, briefly kissing her lips before a drunk Genji startled them again.

“Happy New Year!” Genji yelled, hugging and kissing them thoroughly. “To my sister, and to my future brother-in-law,” he said, raising his drink. He laughed loudly and McCree joined him, while Hanzo repressed a smirk, finally giving up and joining them too.

“How drunk are you, Genji?” Hanzo asked.

“I can tell ya’ he’s drunker than Cooter Brown,” McCree joked.

“Want me to get you to your bed?” she asked, and Genji frowned at her.

“No, to the party!” Genji pointed to the living room. “Let’s go. It’s karaoke time!”

“Don’t look at me, I can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” the cowboy stood up and helped Hanzo take Genji back to the party.

“I’m soooo happy for you, sis, Jesse had a crush on you since day one and I was getting worried, you know. He’s my best friend and you’re my favorite sister,” Genji blabbed and made Hanzo laugh inevitably.

“Bless your heart, Genji,” McCree barked at him, clearly embarrassed.

 

 

McCree had fallen asleep in the armchair a couple of hours ago, with his hat over his face. He had drunk a little too much too. That last whiskey knocked him out for good, and he had sworn Hanzo had sit on his lap to land a kiss on his cheek and a blanket over his body. Just like now, when he would swear he had heard her calling him.

“Cowboy, wake up,” Hanzo said.

McCree groaned and touched her arm before lifting his hat. “What is it, sweetheart?” He asked in a hoarse voice.

“Quick, come with me.” She took his hand and the blanket to help him stand up, still half-sleep, and dragged him outside. They walked for a while to avoid the tall trees and enjoy a better view of the horizon. McCree knew it was near dawn and guessed where she was taking him.

“There is a popular tradition in Japan that says that watching the first sunrise of the New Year while making a wish will bring you good luck,” Hanzo explained, gazing upon the landscape. McCree held her with an arm, an easy task being taller than her, and Hanzo rested her head on his shoulder as they both silently waited for the sun to rise. They didn’t wait long. The sky came back pink and deep blue, like a watercolor painting, with the first rays of the sun peeking out the horizon.

As the light illuminated her face, McCree glanced at Hanzo, and she turned around sensing his eyes on her. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her, his mouth pressed softly against hers, their lips rubbing together gently until he deepened the kiss with keenness and opened his mouth to bite her lower lip, stealing a moan from Hanzo.

The cowboy broke the kiss to look at her, his eyes glittering with lust. Hanzo pushed aside his hands to fling her arms around his neck, standing on her toes. She captured his mouth with longing, crashing her lips into his fearlessly. Hanzo opened her mouth to the cowboy to find him just as thirsty as she was. She had been waiting for this too, to let all her feelings out once and for all. He held her tightly against him, almost lifting her off the ground in a single movement, while his tongue stroked hers with hankering after so many dreams starred by dragons. The blanket laid at their feet as the only witness of their untold love.

Then, he felt the inevitable awakening of his body and squeezed her even tighter, her moan escaping directly into his mouth. “Jesse, please,” Hanzo said, fighting to catch her breath from the long kiss. An exquisite emotion of victory filled McCree, grunting against her mouth, trailing small kisses over her swollen lips and jaw. Breathing her warmth and feeling himself short of breath too. He finally had all he ever wanted within his reach. He loosened his grasp, dreading his unforgiving fierceness, and freeing Hanzo from his embrace. But she stood there, breathless and flushed. All because of him.

“You’re not pulling away from me, darlin’?” McCree asked, a wolfish grin on his face.

“No,” she gasped. “And I don’t intend to, cowboy,” Hanzo said, kissing his lips again and rubbing her tongue on his lower lip, swollen too. “Take me to my room.”

“Much obliged,” he said, and took her in his arms, lifting her off the ground and walking towards the house. Hanzo chuckled and kissed McCree’s neck.

“I didn’t mean literally,” Hanzo said, laughing.

“I’ma here to please, and I ain’t nothin’ but a gentleman, sweet pie,” the cowboy said.

“Did you ask for a wish?” she playfully whispered into his ear.

“Damn sure I did,” McCree said. “It’s not as heavy as I thought It’d be.”

“Lacking in strength, cowboy?” Hanzo said and bit his neck in revenge.

 

Hanzo’s room was warm and inviting after enduring the harsh cold outside. The fireplace was still burning low thanks to the embers. It was difficult to walk and kiss her at the same time, but McCree didn’t even consider to stop, until his legs stumbled with the bed, making them both chuckle. Hanzo started unbuttoning his shirt while McCree watched her, grinning.

 _I might be dead or dreaming but I ain’t care_ , the cowboy thought.

She ran her hands slowly down McCree’s chest and stomach, biting her lip at the muscles underneath, he was covered by hair and she buried her fingers on it, letting out a gasp. The cowboy’s chest was rough and full of scars, his well-defined muscles only moving by his breathing.

“You like what ya’ see, darlin’?” he arched an eyebrow at her, taking off his hat and dropping it on the floor.

“I…” Hanzo mumbled and blushed. She looked at him and touched his body up again, past his neck, to tangle her hands in his hair, long enough to be messy, giving him an untidy look. “I like what I see,” she finished.

“I'm full of surprises,” he said with a husky voice that made her shudder.

“All of them this good?” Hanzo teased him and snaked her hands under his shirt over his strong shoulders to take it off.

McCree grabbed her waist and brought her closer. “Good, big and thick, sweetheart,” he said with a wolfish grin framing his teeth.

“You’re hopeless,” Hanzo said, rubbing her mouth against his part-opened lips.

“It’s not like you ain’t know me already, sweet pie,” he said and bit her lower lip, sucking it and clawing his fingers at her waist. “I’ma gonna eat you up.” McCree hurried his hands to remove her top and the shirt underneath in a single movement, revealing the tattoos on her pale skin. Hanzo was wearing a see-through black bra that lured the cowboy immediately to kiss her breasts until her nipples showed prominently. She moaned at the warmth of his mouth over her chest, yearning for more of it while caressing the back of his neck.

“Yer so beautiful, Hanzo, so damn beautiful I might be dead in heaven,” he said, nibbling and kissing her skin. She chuckled and kissed his head. McCree unfastened her trousers and quickly got rid of them and the shoes.

“Stupid cowboy,” she gasped, with a hand on his shoulder.

He was kneeling at her feet, glancing up at her eyes with greed. Hanzo touched his face and he kissed her thumb, grabbing her hand and kissing the palm while standing up. She freed her hair and it fell down her shoulders. Then, she teased the waistband of his trousers with one hand while the other palmed the big bulk in his groin. McCree groaned and took off the buckle of his belt, allowing her to unzip his trousers. Her hand quickly slid inside his briefs to trap his thick length, squeezing him softly.

“You weren’t lying, cowboy,” Hanzo teased him. “So hard...” she whispered.

“That’s yer fault, darlin’,” McCree managed to say and lifted her off the floor to land on the bed on top of her. He clumsily took off the rest of his clothes, kissing her madly, and resumed his task. He trailed bites and kisses down to her neck, where he bit hard enough to make her whimper. Hanzo scratched his back, unable to hold herself.

McCree took off her bra, almost ripping it off from her body, not being able to control his eagerness. Hanzo moaned under him, pulling his hair softly, mussing it up while the cowboy bit the flesh of her breasts, sucking the skin, leaving marks of lips and teeth all over her. Pink trail of love bites and saliva just to show Hanzo he wanted her madly.

“Jesse,” she wailed, and he glanced up at her with a lovestruck look in his eyes, his mouth still rubbing one of her hardened peaks, almost begging her to let him continue with his frenzy a little longer. “Don’t stop,” Hanzo ordered him.

And McCree circled her nipple with his tongue, then the other one, sucking hard enough to make her whimper in ecstasy. Resuming the biting and the kissing, he led one hand down to remove her underwear and gripped her outer thigh tightly with his hand, pressing his fingertips strongly enough to leave bruises.

“I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you,” the rumble of his voice made her tremble.  “On that armchair, completely out of my reach…”

He crawled up to hungrily kiss her mouth again while his hand ventured between her legs, spreading them slightly to run his rough fingers through her slick folds. Hanzo whined in his mouth and rocked her hips against his hand. McCree stroked her up and down between her legs, teasing her slippery entrance and then up to her swollen nub, that was begging for attention. He made her swear in Japanese, crying for more, sucking the skin on her neck over, and over again.

 _This is heaven_ , he thought. Without stopping the assault on her body.

“Aren’t you a sore mess, darlin’,” McCree said, licking the marks on her neck while his fingers thrust into her wet core.

“Jesse, I need you now,” Hanzo begged, looking at him.

“Thought you’d never ask, sweetheart,” he said, showing his wolfish smile again, the one that made Hanzo shudder and clench her stomach with thrill.

McCree lifted her off the bed and pressed her to his chest, then he turned around to rest his back on the headboard and made her straddle him.

“You’re stronger than I thought, cowboy,” Hanzo said, feeling his throbbing member between her legs. She shivered when he cupped her breasts with both hands, feeling the cold metal on her skin, and a gasp left her lungs.

“I know darlin’, but I’m already missing eight hands,” the cowboy said, running his thumbs around her nipples, relishing in the view of the marks he’d been leaving all over her chest.

Hanzo chuckled and pressed her own hands to his, rocking her hips softly over his length, making him groan. The cowboy squeezed her breasts gently and leaned forward to kiss her lips, opening them with his tongue to thrust into her mouth insatiably. Hanzo’s hands went down between her legs to grab his thick length with both her hands. She stroked him softly at first, feeling the pulsing of his hardness, and then she circled her thumb around his head, feeling his jerking under her touch, his kisses more eager and deep now. Their mouths ate from one another, messy loving kisses that left them both panting.

“Hanzo,” he said, cupping her face with one hand. “My beautiful dragon.” His robotic hand traveled down her waist to finally grab her backside. The harshness of the metal contrasted with her delicate skin. Mesmerized, the cowboy watched her lift her hips and guide his thick length to her entrance. He groaned when his swollen tip slid effortlessly inside her and tilted his head back. Both his hands were tightly grasping her ass now, trying to pull her down, and his hips to push up to thrust into her, but Hanzo bit her lip as a mischievous smile brightened up her face, her knees keeping strongly her position while her hands pushed down the voracious man underneath. McCree glanced at her lewdly.

“Who’s the sore mess now, cowboy?” Hanzo said, not knowing how long she could brag.

McCree used the leverage from his legs to thrust slightly into her, smiling when she moaned loudly and her knees trembled, falling down to his chest, blushed, while his thick length entered her completely as the cowboy thrust into her at the same time that pushed her hips down. A loud cry left McCree’s mouth. He loved her inviting warmth, his hard member enveloped by her, and the sheer delight that filled his body and made him grumble.

“You are, darlin’. My sinfully sweet, mess…” he growled when Hanzo started moving, pressing her hands against his chest and rocking her hips against him. She took him in and out of her at an increasing pace. McCree drank from her ravishing body, and grabbed her ass tightly, joining her movements with his thrusts, burying himself deep further inside her.

“Jesse, you feel so right,” Hanzo said, feeling her orgasm building up already. It had been a long time, and the cowboy’s gifted shaft filled her completely.

“Don’t stop, sweetheart,” he begged. “Keep goin’.” He tightened his grasp and leaned forward to her, pressing their chests together. Hanzo moved faster, irregularly, meeting his small thrusts and moaning every single time. The cowboy was hitting that spot that made her lose her mind. She sucked the skin on his neck to quiet down her wails, biting him mercilessly as he had done to her before. The cowboy did the same, pumping into her faster, lifting her hips like she weighted nothing.

“I want to hear you say my name, darlin’,” he asked, grunting, feeling deep down his orgasm was imminent.

Hanzo looked at him, cupping his face with her hands “Jesse”, she said, feeling the cowboy deep inside her, pleasuring her with eagerness and desire. McCree fixed his eyes on hers, breathing heavily, a sheer coat of sweat all over them. She wailed his name once more.

“Oh, Hanzo…” he mumbled and his mouth trapped hers in a shabby kiss. Her orgasm ran over her hard, her muscles enveloping his thickness tightly and triggering his arousal too. They both moaned loudly into each other's mouths, moving clumsily against each other. The cowboy spilled himself inside her with a deep grunt while Hanzo trembled on top of him, dazed. He held her tightly, his arms now around her back to keep her close to him. He landed kisses on her collarbone and felt her hands tangled in his hair, caressing his nape.

They stayed like that for several moments, catching their breaths until he pulled apart to fix his eyes on her, with the most loving sweet eyes Hanzo had never seen before.

“I’ve never wanted anything in my life more than I want you, sweetheart,” McCree said, a hint of fear crossing his face. It had been too long since he had said something like that to anyone; since he had felt what he felt for Hanzo. She noticed, and tenderness filled her heart at the rough cowboy falling apart.

“That makes the two of us, my stupid cowboy,” she said and kissed him deeply and gently.

“Your one and only,” he mumbled into her mouth.

McCree helped her lie on the bed and covered her with the blankets while he stood up to put some more logs in the fireplace to keep the fire burning. He sat on the bed, took off his arm and joined her. Hanzo rested his head on his left shoulder and snuggled into him, playing with the hair in his chest. And then he sighed.

“What is it?”

“Can you pinch me, sugar?” he said, grinning like an idiot. “I still ain’t sure if I’m dreamin’ or not.” Hanzo softly kissed his chest and felt his steady breath slow down as he was falling asleep. She buried herself in his embrace and smiled, drifting away with him.

  


McCree had woken up a couple of times to just fall asleep again after finding Hanzo  sleeping placidly by his side, but not this time. It had to be way past noon and he rolled on the bed and felt her side still warm.  Then he opened his eyes and smiled when he saw her, naked, walking towards him from the bathroom. Hanzo climbed up the bed and snuggled into him again, her back pressed against his chest. McCree inhaled her scent as her hair tickled his nose. He held her tightly with his right arm and exhaled.

“Sweetheart,” McCree said. “You ain’t regretting anything, right?” Hanzo chuckled. “This ain’t a one-time thing to get rid of the cowboy?”

“Do you?” She asked, clasping her hand into his.

“Not a chance, honey bucket,” he said, kissing her neck. “So you’re my beau now?”

“What does that mean?” Hanzo asked, turning her head around to look at him.

“That yer’ my little honeysuckle vine, my lamb pie…” McCree kissed her shoulder and back to his neck.

“Will you ever run out of pet names, cowboy?” Hanzo laughed.

“… my sweet peach, my beautiful darlin’.” She pulled his hair to reach his lips and kiss him, shutting him up for good.

“I’m yours, Jesse,” she said, love glittering in her eyes. A half-smile brightened up McCree’s face as his naughty hand traveled up to cup her breast.

“Then I’m gonna give you some sugar,” he said, pressing himself at her back, aroused by the proximity of her body.

“And I might let you do it,” Hanzo said, arching her back at him.

McCree teased her nipple with his thumb and index, pressing softly while nibbling her neck. She let her hand sneak between them to find him already hard, and she enjoyed his groan of pleasure near her nape when she started stroking him softly, her fingers tightly wrapped around his width. The cowboy pinched her nip making her grunt. Then he slid his hand between her legs, sneaking his fingers down to tease her slippery entrance, and up to circle her clit, gently at first, then increasing his pace while lapping her neck. Hanzo moaned and released his length from her hand, trapping him between her thighs instead, arching her back and pressing against him.

The cowboy moved against her slowly, his member trapped between her thighs. His hand palmed her breast and stroked her at the same rhythm.

“You feel so good, darlin’,” he whispered into her ear, making her shudder.

His thick length was teasing her entrance, driving Hanzo so avid that McCree chuckled at the noises she was making. He was stroking himself with her, so wet and warm he grasped her backside tightly, wanting to be inside her so badly.

“Fuck me already, cowboy,” she complained, enticing him, breathless already. McCree stopped the teasing and thrust into her, burying his hard member deep inside her slick wet folds. He grunted at her neck when he heard her wail. He pulled in and out of her unrushed, drinking Hanzo’s moans that went directly to his pulsing member. Hanzo bit her lip and felt the dizziness and bliss in her head. She grabbed McCree’s hair with her free hand, needing something to hold onto.

“Harder, Jesse,” she said, her words ran through him like a drug.

The cowboy rolled over her, spreading her legs slightly with one knee, still inside her. He slid his hand from her ass up to her belly to finally end up in her neck, caressing her soft skin, feeling her pulse thumping fast, and her breathing irregular. Hanzo was close, and he sensed it. One deep thrust from his hips and McCree was inside her completely, making her mewl loudly something that resembled his name.

He drove faster into her, feeling his own arousal close, as he licked the skin on her back. He kissed and bit her flesh mercilessly like he was trying to devour her, leaving pink and red marks all over her back, between her shoulder blades, and increasing the thrusts of his hips.

“Come for me sweetheart, I ain’t stopping until you come,” the cowboy said, trapping and sucking her flesh at the back of her neck and thrusting into her harder and deeper every time.

McCree would never have enough of Hanzo in a lifetime, making love to her was an addictive thrill he had never felt before. Something to get lost into, to hanker, to possess. He felt his orgasm when it was too late and suddenly came inside her, crying out her name, completely lost in his own wolfish gluttony. Hanzo’s orgasm joined his when the cowboy spilled himself into her, waves of pleasure pulsing all over her body while the cowboy bit her again, repressing his own grunts of pleasure, still moving slowly inside her to enjoy the last moments of their arousal. McCree finally collapsed on top of her, and he hugged her tightly while both tried to catch their breath, lost in the euphoria of their shared pleasure.

“Oh you damn cowboy,” Hanzo said, chuckling.

“I’ma here to please you, darlin’, though I got a little lucky back there today.” McCree’s hoarse laugh tickled her neck. “Can’t blame this ol’ cowboy for losin’ it in your sinful body,” he said, and then he lifted his weight off her to trail playful kisses randomly on her back.

Someone knocked on her door and they both froze on the bed looking at it. It had to be Genji. He knocked again.

“Sis, are you awake?” Genji’s voice at the other side of the door.

Hanzo turned around and covered the cowboy’s mouth with her hand, anticipating he wasn’t going to stay silent. McCree chuckled and bit her hand in response, earning a deadly glare from her. Repressing a wolf-like laugh, he comfortably lay back in the bed.

“Just a second, Genji” Hanzo said, standing up and looking for her robe, while McCree enjoyed the sight of her nakedness around the room. He had to bit his tongue not to compliment her perfectly round ass, all his minutes ago. Instead, he took a good sidelong of it.

 _That robe’s not gonna cover my bites_ , darlin’, he thought.

Hanzo fixed her hair and opened the door halfway. “What is so urgent I can’t even take a nap?” she said, trying to keep an unshakable face, or how Genji called it: _the Hanzo treatment_.

Genji frowned at her, noticing the color on her cheeks, the disheveled hair, and… ”Is that a hickey, sis?” he said, and Hanzo swiftly covered her neck with her hand.

“Of course not,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Something bit me.” McCree was having a hard time trying not to burst into laughter, listening to the conversation from the bed.

“What is it Genji?”

“I can’t find Jesse and we were supposed to go out this evening,” her brother explained. “Any chance you know where he is?”

“I have no idea where the cowboy is,” Hanzo lied. _He knows_ , she thought.

“Well, **if you do see him** ,” Genji raised his voice, “tell him **I assume he’s not coming** , alright?” Genji had a satisfactory grin all over his face.

“You’re impossible, brother,” Hanzo complained, arching her eyebrows at him and closing the door. She turned around and looked at McCree, who had put on his arm and patted the bed at his side in an inviting way, grinning stupidly.

“Are you happy?” Hanzo smirked and joined him.

“Happy as a puppy with two peckers, sweet pie,” he said.

Hanzo opened the robe and inspected her chest and shoulders. “You did quite a work of art in my body last night, cowboy,” she lustfully looked at him.

“And I ain’t done yet, darlin’,” McCree said and then kissed her on the lips, bringing her closer to him.

“Now you’re going to know what it is to be marked by the dragon,” Hanzo warned him, biting his lower lip, making him grunt.

 

 

February brought the snow to Hanamura and it covered the garden profusely in the course of a single night. It was a white beautiful sight McCree enjoyed every morning, coffee in hand. He moved to Hanzo’s quarters soon after the first night of the year. No point in hiding the obvious any longer. He had feared she would be reluctant or have doubts about him, he wouldn’t have blamed her for it, but she hadn’t. He soon learned that, with Hanzo, it was all or nothing. The cowboy knew deep inside his heart he was lost for good, that there won’t be anyone else for him, and that he would love her for the rest of his life. Far from feeling unsettled about it, he felt in peace with a calm that eased most of the pain in his life, especially his past. He would make up for his mistakes and become the man he knew he could be.

Genji looked pleased with the arrangement, maybe a little reluctant at first, concern about the Shimada clan and their father, but happy for them in the end. Though the teasing would last a little longer, McCree guessed. And Hanzo, beautiful and exquisite creature, she was joyful around him, happy and smiling like he hadn’t even imagined. Even her brother had told him: “I haven’t seen her so beaming in my entire life, Jesse, and it’s because of you.” At which the cowboy could only smile and cover his face with his hat.

There was only one thing left unsaid: the business with her family and the clan. McCree knew better than to pressure her about it, so he was just waiting for her to tell him. Hanzo would, in due time. The cowboy forgot about it and tossed the remains of the cigarette. He and Genji were waiting at the stairs of the temple for Hanzo. It was freezing and the ground was covered by a subtle snow.

“Why didn’t she come with us?” the cowboy asked Genji.

“She had to get dressed,” Genji said, but when McCree arched an eyebrow at him, he explained further. “She can’t put a kimono properly on her own, and it is a family tradition. We go to the temple after the new year in formal Japanese wear to ask for good luck, as our mother taught us.”

“I was wondering why you were wearin’ a dressing gown outside, kid,” McCree joked and Genji shook his head.

Then the cowboy saw Hanzo coming right to them. Her black hair was tied up in an easy bun that let that naughty lock escape into her face, where her cheeks and lips blushed in pink at the cold breeze. She was wearing a silver fur stole over her shoulders to protect herself from the cold. The deep teal gradient of her kimono ended in an embroidered pattern at the bottom. The obi was decorated with flowers in bright colors, red, golden and blue. McCree smiled like an idiot, enraptured in the vision, and grinned even wider when she smiled back. Hanzo guessed it would be weird for him to see her in a kimono, but, judging by the face of the cowboy, he pretty much loved it.

“Yer’ like a diamond in a rhinestone world, my dear,” McCree said when she got closer, tapping his hat and making her smile.

McCree offered his arm to Hanzo and all three of them walked towards the temple. It was the first time the cowboy visited one. It was so different from his home, like another world with his own strange rules. He followed Hanzo and Genji and listened to their indications. He let the hat hanging on his back when they approached the temple itself. Hanzo was kind enough to guide him, even if he had insisted on waiting outside.

 _How can I say no to that sweet face_ , McCree thought.

They burned incense to pay their respects, then bow what McCree thought it was too many times, but he obeyed and did as Hanzo said, mimicking her. Genji chuckled at him a couple of times. He was enjoying seeing his best friend happy. The grumpy cowboy was surprisingly smooth lately. They got an omikuji too, and the Shimadas laughed at McCree trying to match his stick with the right box to get the paper strip. Hanzo came to his help with a smile.

“Genji,” Hanzo said. “Why don’t you offer the donation this year.”

“So I can leave you two alone for a while?” her brother joked and nodded.

“You want me all by yourself, darlin’,” the cowboy teased her.

“Always,” she said, a mischievous smile on her lips. Then, she opened her Omikuji and sighed.

“What is it, sweetheart?” McCree curiously glanced at the paper.

“I always get a curse or a great curse. I’m hopeless,” she complained and walked with McCree to attach her own bad luck to the wall of metal wires, alongside other bad fortunes in the temple.

“Do you want me to translate yours, Jesse?” Hanzo asked.

“I ain’t need that to know how lucky I am,” he winked at her and she playfully took the paper strip from his hand.

Hanzo broadly smiled when she read it. “A great blessing, cowboy, regarding someone you’ve been waiting for and a romantic relationship. Do you have something to confess?”

“I have no idea who that could be, my dear,” he teased, and put his arm around her waist and stepped closer to her. “I suppose I can’t kiss you here, honey?”

“You shouldn’t,” she said but didn’t pull away. “It’d be disrespectful. I know how you kiss, cowboy.”

“The only disrespectful thing would be not to worship you here, honey,” McCree said, taking off his hat and covering their faces with it from a side. “Now no one can see us, darlin’, give me some sugar.” She gasped and pressed her lips against the cowboy’s, that rumbled and parted her lips with his tongue, biting her lower lip softly.

“I love your kisses, Jesse,” Hanzo said glancing at him.

“And I love you, darlin’.” The words escaped his mouth like an unwanted confession, but true nonetheless.

Hanzo blushed, looking at the lovestruck glance in McCree’s eyes, both still hiding behind the hat. She cupped his face, digging her fingers into his messy beard and kissing him gently again, standing on her tip toes.

“I love you too, stupid cowboy,” Hanzo said. McCree grinned, looking down at her and blushing as he put on his hat again.

“Here, fold mine there too,” he handed her the omikuji.

“Never leave a good fortune behind, Jesse. You might even want to sleep with it under your pillow.” Hanzo smirked.

“I‘ma sure sleeping with my good fortune lately,” he said, keeping the piece of paper in his pocket. “By the way, sweetheart,” McCree added. “Someone told me you needed help to put all those layers on. I volunteer to take them off.” He arched an eyebrow at her with a wolfish smile.

What McCree and Genji didn’t know was that Hanzo had been talking to her father earlier today, finally renouncing her birthright to the Shimada Clan once and for all. This will bring consequences hard to foresee. And still, she knew she had done the right thing. Even if a war for power was coming, and even if she knew she would have to fight on it. The only thing she won’t allow to happen would be to implicate Genji or McCree on it. She would fight alone and die alone if she had to. The Shimada Clan was in danger. The men manipulating her father would go after her, but she wasn’t going to walk away from it that easily. If her father wanted her help he would have to ask for it this time. Otherwise, the Shimada Clan would be under someone else's control, same as being dead.


	4. Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is definitely NSFW (too much smut lol). It came out longer than I initially intended to, but well... here it is!

The dragon’s heart glides,   
between the piercing wolf’s fangs,   
to a brand new dream.

  
  
An intense feeling of sheer pleasure washed over McCree as the dragons danced and twitched around him in his dreams. He hadn’t had unsettling dreams about the dragons in a while, instead, he had strangely stimulating ones, waking up with an unexplainable urge to make love to Hanzo and a throbbing hard-on between his legs.

The cowboy felt Hanzo’s gentle kisses shared out his neck and shoulders while he was waking up. He blindly reached with his hand to touch her hair and grunted at the feeling of the woman pressed against him. He loved to wake up next to her. In the past, he had run away from many beds before dawn, he had been unable to devote himself to anyone, much less to allow himself to love. And now he could not imagine his life without her, and it scared him as much as he loved it.

“Darlin’, I had the weirdest dream tonight,” McCree said, his morning voice husky.

Hanzo crawled up on top of him, resting her head in the hollow of his neck and nibbling his skin. She pressed her naked body on the cowboy, feeling his hard length between their stomachs. One of the things she enjoyed the most was waking him up like this, between kisses and loving cuddles. She knew the little love he had had in his life and all she wanted to do was to fill that emptiness with her.

“What was it about?” Hanzo asked, rumbling at the back of his ear.

“Dragons,” McCree briefly said, grabbing her ass with his right hand and squeezing it. “But now I just want you.”

Her tongue trailed a path down his neck to reach McCree’s chest, where she landed playful kisses. Hanzo slid down, feeling the beating of his heart and the rhythm of his breath underneath her until she found his hard cock. She kissed his length tenderly, glancing up at him to find the cowboy looking attentively at her.

“You indulge the filthy man in me too much, my dear,” McCree said, licking his lips after.

She mimicked his gesture and grabbed his thick member by the hilt with one hand. Then she lapped from the base to the tip, pressing her tongue greedily. McCree groaned and twitched underneath her. Hanzo did it again, this time circling her tongue at the tip, feeling it wet and putting it briefly into her mouth. She kept teasing the cowboy while stroking him with her hand a little faster, making him moan for more. He was loud, and she had learned to love that about him.   
“Oh, you feel so good, sweetheart,” he said. Hanzo took his member in as much as she could, pressing with her lips around his width. “And I love when you do that,” McCree groaned and moved his hips up. His length slid deeper into her mouth and she moaned, bobbing her head trying to follow a rhythm while sucking him. The feeling of her warm mouth, the wetness, and the smooth movements made McCree arch his back in pleasure, an insatiable need growing deep inside him. Hanzo’s hands caressed the cowboy’s chest and she felt his impatience as she increased the rousing pace on his throbbing cock.

“Keep goin’, sugar,” he said, panting.

McCree’s moaning noises were louder, and Hanzo relished on every single one of them, now slowing her pace and taking him out of her mouth, watching the slick throbbing length right in front of her with lustful eyes, his tip completely swollen and dripping.

“Teasin’ this ol’ cowboy will have consequences, sugar,” he said, out of breath, and already missing her sinful mouth around him. He was close, and the road of kisses Hanzo was trailing along his shaft weren’t helping, though it was a beautiful sight.

“I’m looking forward to that unless you want me to finish you off,” she said, pressing her tongue along his member to tease him.

“Come up here and I’ll tell ya’ what I want, honey,” McCree said with a wolfish grin and eyes glittering with thirst. She complied and kissed him on the lips after, but the cowboy rolled over and stood up, reaching for his robotic arm and putting it on quickly before coming back to the warmth of her body.

“Are you getting serious, cowboy?” Hanzo said between chuckles. McCree cupped one of her breasts and the cold metal made her shiver and whine. He rumbled, satisfied, and pressed his tongue against her nipple, feeling it getting hard. His warm mouth and the sucking made Hanzo moan loudly as he cupped the other breast too, and hardened her nipple with his thumb.

“I’ll make a sore mess of ya’ until you can’t take it anymore,” the cowboy warned. His teeth trapped and bit her nipple, stealing a wail from Hanzo, whose hands were tangled on the cowboy’s hair, mussing it up while she enjoyed McCree’s love bites. He had a voracious tendency of biting her flesh, clenching his teeth around it, and kissing, and licking until her skin was red and sensitive. She loved it, every single bit.

McCree suddenly stopped and had to smile at Hanzo’s flushed face. He had quickly learned that her breasts were a soft spot for her and that he could easily make her lose her mind. All the better for him, they were lip-smacking.

“Is that all you got, cowboy?” Hanzo teased him, biting her lip while stroking his hair.

McCree bit her neck and groaned, sneaking his arms around her back and lifting her off the bed. He made her sit on the edge and kneeled in front of her, kissing gently between her breasts and down her belly.

“Aren’t you a beautiful sight, darlin’,” McCree said, taking her left leg and resting it on his shoulder. His hand moved carefully over her body, giving her goosebumps. He bit her on her inner thigh, hard enough to make her flinch at the unexpected move. Then he kissed the same spot looking at her with indulgence.

“Jesse, I like where this is going,” Hanzo said, smiling at him and placing a hand in his head, but then, McCree grabbed her wrist and held it at her back, same with the other arm.

“You ain’t gonna need your hands, sugar,” the cowboy said, showing a smug smile and tightening the grip on her wrists at her back. Hanzo bit her lip and arched her back, surrendering to his grasp. His metallic hand felt strong and cold against her skin and she knew, even if the grip was loose, she wouldn’t get out of it if McCree didn’t want her to.

He bit her again on the other thigh while his right hand grabbed her ass tightly, clawing his fingers at it. His tongue stroked the skin on her inner thigh and up to her core, making her moan in anticipation. But the cowboy was decided to make her pay, and he stopped right at her entrance. He did the same with the other thigh and chuckled, sensing her eagerness.   
“Jesse…” Hanzo mumbled, glancing at him.

“Yer’ so damn pretty I want to eat you up, sweet pie,” he said, nibbling gently right between her legs.

“You better make good on your words, cowboy,” Hanzo tried to sound threatening but, to McCree, it was more like a beg, and it widened his wolfish smile as he opened his mouth and licked her already slick and leaking entrance once. Hanzo tried to move her hips into his mouth, but she couldn’t, and McCree tightened the grip on her wrists.

His warm tongue plodded unhurriedly between her folds and teased her clit briefly, circling it, without spending too much time on it. Hanzo tried to push McCree against her with her leg, but the only thing she achieved was a hoarse guffaw from him when she rested the other leg and lost her balance.

“Stay still, sugar,” he said, kissing again between her legs. “You taste so good, I want to drink you up and put my tongue inside you.” The words and the rumble of his voice sent a rush of pleasure through her body. Hanzo glared at him equally frustrated and aroused.

“Enough dirty talking, cowboy, just…” Hanzo finished with a loud moan as McCree's tongue teased her entrance, stroking her, opening her folds to slide it inside her. She stood still, as the cowboy let go of her hands to grasp harshly her ass and bury his face between her legs.

Hanzo’s moans were now loud cries of pleasure as McCree alternated thrusts of his tongue with strokes on her clit. His fingers were nailed into her flesh, and Hanzo had to support her body on her forearms to not fall back. She felt her orgasm close and her legs trembling at McCree’s shoulders. He was determined to make her come hard, here and now.

“Come for me, darlin’, come in my mouth,” he said, lapping her after, and stealing a loud wail from her. 

“Jesse, please, don’t stop now,” Hanzo begged, and she felt two fingers suddenly thrusting into her and the cowboy’s mouth again enveloping her core, mercilessly rubbing his tongue against her swollen nub. She came hard and fiercely, her hips in the air against the cowboy’s face. She collapsed on the bed and trapped him between her thighs while he was still stroking his tongue against her, making her tremble as her orgasm washed over her. His fingers were still deep inside her, filling her completely, as she tried to catch her breath.

McCree landed some kisses between her legs and chuckled at the tremors of her body, oversensitive after her orgasm. He rested her legs on the floor again as she stood up to look at him. Hanzo trapped McCree’s mouth eagerly, her tongue invading his mouth, tasting herself on it, and groaning. She finished the kiss licking his lips and biting him, and noticed the cowboy with his throbbing erection in his hand, sitting on his legs, in front of her.

“Do you want me to finish what I started?” Hanzo said with a playful smile on her face.

“I want you, honey,” McCree said, but Hanzo was already crawling down the bed and straddling him on the floor. His thick length slid inside her effortlessly and the cowboy groaned in ecstasy. She winded her arms round his neck and rocked her hips against him. McCree kissed her avidly, invading her mouth with his tongue while she pulled him in and out faster. His hands firmly grasped her ass, making her moan and tilt her head back, leaving a vulnerable throat at the cowboy’s mercy. McCree showed his teeth in a mischievous smile and gritted them at her flesh, his tongue pressing where he could feel her rising pulse.

“Ah, Jesse,” she wailed, a warm wave of pleasure building deep inside her as his thick length filled her. He licked the marks of his bite, delighted by her moans. The cowboy loved to have her on top of him like that, bouncing while he could bite her and kiss her madly, but there was something he liked even more.

“Turn around, sweetheart,” McCree told her, lifting off her hips so she could kneel in front of him. A breathless Hanzo leaned forward and rested her forearms on the bed. The cowboy thrust into her, making her moan. “You’re goin’ to come again for me, sugar,” he said, moving behind her. His chest pressed against her back as he buried himself deep inside her over, and over again.

Hanzo was helpless under the cowboy’s lovemaking, his robotic hand was palming one of her breasts, his fingers unsparingly pinching her nipple while his other hand was clasping hers. McCree’s thrusts were fast and deep, and his panting warmed up her shoulder, where he landed kisses and bites. She felt his hard member twitch inside her and it sent a rush of thrill all over her.   
“Don’t stop,” she gasped, struggling to breathe, and feeling her orgasm imminent. She pushed her hips towards the insatiable cowboy behind her, trying to meet his thrusts, but he had her trapped against the bed, the only thing she could do was let herself go.

“I ain’t stopping, darlin’,” McCree whispered into her ear, his voice husky and hoarse, filled with raunchiness and sending her to the edge. Her orgasm met his intensely, the irregular thrusts of the cowboy as he came, his harsh bite on her shoulder and his hips slapping the back of her thighs. She cried out his name while he emptied himself inside her, still feeling the pulsing of her orgasm.

“I love you, stupid cowboy,” Hanzo mumbled against the bed, enjoying McCree’s kisses on her back and his hands wrapped around her. He was still inside her and, judging by his hug, he had no intention to let her go anytime soon, both trying to catch their breath.

“You rode me hard and put me away wet, darlin’,” the cowboy said.

“What did you say?” she asked, the words coming out wavering as she was still short of breath.

McCree chuckled, pulling out of her and sitting on the floor. “Meanin’ you exhausted me, sweet pie,” he looked for a cigarette in the nightstand. “I love you too, my dear,” he glanced at Hanzo, who was snuggling beside him, and he flung his arm round her shoulders.

“Getting tired, gunslinger?” Hanzo joked.

“Not a chance, darlin’,” McCree kissed her forehead and handed her the cigarette. 

She took a drag. “You better, because you’re not going anywhere,” Hanzo glanced up at him and McCree frowned. He grabbed her chin between his knuckles and tilted her head up.

“I bit you harshly today,” a hint of undisguised guilt tinted his words, and he kissed the bruise starting to form on her skin.

Hanzo cupped his face to meet his eyes. “I love when you bite me; in fact, I love when you mark me, and I feel your teeth on my skin,” she said, watching a wolfish smile appear on McCree’s face at her words. He kissed her deeply, stealing the cig from her hand to take one last drag and stub it out in the ashtray.

“Good-mornin', honey,” McCree said, making her laugh.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Hanzo said, standing up and dodging McCree’s attempt to grab her.

“Don’t leave me here, sweetheart. I can’t stand up yet,” he yelled between chuckles, that soon faded away, looking up at the ceiling and dreading all this happiness would disappear in no time. He could feel it in his gut, and it was something that never failed him over the years. McCree stood up and joined her in the shower to shake the feeling by holding her a little longer.

 

  
The front door slammed loudly and startled McCree and Hanzo, who were in the living room spending the evening together. A very angry Genji stormed into the room and yelled at her sister in Japanese. She stood up, trying to calm him down, but he wouldn’t even let her come near him. McCree, suddenly concerned, watched them from the couch, expecting bad news already.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me, Hanzo,” Genji barked at her, angry. “I had to find out second hand.”

“Calm down, Genji,” Hanzo ordered him very seriously.

“How am I going to calm down if you’ve unleashed a war upon our family?”

“Father wasn’t supposed to say anything to not disturb the current peace,” Hanzo explained.

“It’s war. The Shimada Clan is over without us and you know it, it will fall under someone else’s hands. We’re in danger,” Genji shouted, angry and pacing around the living room.

“I will talk to father tomorrow. Honestly, Genji, I don’t care about the organization anymore, for me they can split it into pieces, I’m done.”

“Go tell them!” Genji said. “Maybe they’ll consider not killing us,” he snorted.

“And what about us? You never wanted to take that responsibility, and I don’t want it anymore either. You know, father spent years trying to get rid of me, and when I finally gave him what he wanted he just smiled, he didn’t even thank me for it. He smiled!” Hanzo raised her voice as she was getting upset.

“Poor older sister,” Genji mocked her, and Hanzo slapped him, a death-threatening look in her eyes. He had hurt her.

“You have no idea what I had to do all these years when you were playing vigilante in America. You have no idea what I had to sacrifice for the Shimada Clan, so you don’t get to judge me, brother,” Hanzo threatened.

“I didn’t mean to…” Genji realized what he had said and didn’t want to get her upset.

“I will talk to him tomorrow and I will help conciliate with the Shimada elders, but, to be honest, I don’t want to be the master clan or father’s puppet any longer,” Hanzo confessed. She was surprised that her words came out so easily after so many years fighting for the opposite.

“And what do you want, Hanzo?” Genji sighed, frustration painting his words.

Hanzo looked at McCree, who was watching them from the couch with an earnest expression on his face. “A life that belongs to me, not someone else’s,” she said, still glancing at the cowboy.

“But you realize we’re in danger, that even if you don’t want to, it’s your birthright and the elders already recognized it a long time ago, after everything you’ve done for them, if you turn your back on the organization now…” Genji swallowed, knowing you don’t simply quit a criminal organization without facing the cruelty of it.

“I knew it was a risk. I’m ready for the consequences,” Hanzo said.

“I hope we all are,” Genji said, glancing at McCree.

“Are we done?” Hanzo asked him. Genji snorted and shook his head, waving an arm in the air and heading to his room. “Genji,” Hanzo said, and he stopped to look at her. “I am sorry I didn’t tell you.” He sighed and nodded.

Hanzo dropped on the couch with a loud sigh. McCree stood up and poured two whiskeys, offering one to her before sitting at her side.

“How long have you known this?” McCree asked.

“Since the day we went to the temple,” Hanzo confessed, sipping her drink.

“I ain’t gonna ask why you didn’t tell me, but what kin’ of danger are you into exactly?”

“Without me or my brother, my father is weak and that’s what the other members and the elders see. They can’t allow an open war, so they will try to force his renounce and favor mine, but I don’t want it and they know it,” Hanzo tried to explain, and it wasn’t easy.

“I ain’t see the problem there, sugar,” the cowboy arched an eyebrow at her but guessed what she was about to say.

“When they cannot control you, they kill you,” Hanzo put it mildly. “That’s the problem. I have to figure out how to secure my father’s position again, make sure the elders respect him, otherwise… they will come for him.”

“Well, honey pot, my gun is yours,” Mcree said. If she was in trouble he would fight for her.

“I wouldn’t ask that…” Hanzo’s words were abruptly interrupted by the cowboy.

“You ain’t have to.” McCree and Hanzo finished they drink and she looked at him with guilt all over her eyes for having brought him into this mess in the first place. Since he had appeared in her life, Hanzo’s priorities changed quickly. Her father’s rejection and the demands of an old-fashioned criminal organization couldn’t compete with the chance of a life with the stupid cowboy. Without saying anything, Hanzo kissed him madly until they were both out of breath, tasting the whiskey in his mouth.

“I would’ve offered my gun to you the day I got here if that was my bounty, darlin’,” the cowboy joked, making her chuckle. That’s all McCree wanted, to make her smile for the rest of his life, luckily without dead sentences over their heads.   
  
  


  
After the argument with Genji, Hanzo and McCree went to bed enveloped by a gloomy aura, neither of them talked much. The cowboy was uneasy about Hanzo, she had renounced her right to lead the Shimada Clan and didn’t say anything to him or to her brother, and fear sank in his heart at the possibility that she didn’t trust him enough, that Hanzo wouldn’t let him inside her heart completely as she was already on his. He sat on the bed and ran his hands through his hair.

“I wish you had told me,” McCree said, taking off his hat. It didn’t matter to him that she didn’t tell him about it, but it stung just the same because it meant trouble.

“Jesse,” Hanzo said, sitting on his lap. That always calmed the cowboy’s bad mood.

“I ain’t angry or anythin’. I just,” he sighed, holding her waist.

“I’m sorry,” she cupped his face and McCree saw remorse on her face.

“No need to apologize, sweetheart,” the cowboy tried to ease her heart. “Trust me, please” the cowboy asked, begging her with eyes full of soreness.

“Jesse, there is no one I trust more than you,” Hanzo said. “I love you.” The words made the cowboy smile irremediably and he buried his face in her neck, smelling the familiar scent of her skin and holding her tightly. Hanzo chuckled, and let the cowboy snuggle into her. Suddenly, he pulled away and a groan of pain left his lungs, holding his left shoulder with his hand.

“Damn arm,” McCree cursed. From time to time, his left shoulder struggled with the weight of the robotic arm as an extenuating pain invaded the cowboy. 

“I’ve seen you complain about it before but not like this,” Hanzo said, worried.

“I just need to take the damn thing off.” McCree tossed the robotic arm on the floor at his feet, but his face was painted with pain and a grimace grew on his lips. Hanzo hurried to unbutton his shirt and take it off carefully, revealing the cowboy’s torso. Then she went to the bathroom to come back swiftly with a small pot in her hands.

“Let me see,” Hanzo asked, and sat next to him. She generously smeared the ointment between her hands and started massaging McCree’s left shoulder with talented hands. The warmth of the oils reached his muscles and the cowboy relaxed, sighing at the relief. Hanzo smiled and kept running her hands up and down his shoulder and the remains of his arm. His muscles were tense and stiff, no wonder that he was in so much pain.

McCree felt the smoothness of her touch in his skin, the warmth, and the firm caring strokes Hanzo’s hands used to massage his sore arm. He rested his right elbow on the knee and covered his face with his hand. No one ever in his life, not even himself, had taken care of him the way she was right now. McCree felt a knot in his throat, the pain in his shoulder slackened quickly while another one found his way into his heart. The lonely years came back to him, the long nights, the wandering from one place to another. Last year’s Christmas he had been at Calaveras drinking himself into a stupor. He had never belonged to anyone, to anywhere. He didn’t deserve better. And yet, there he was, loved and cared for.

“Where have you been all my life, darlin’?” The cowboy mumbled, his eyes full of inappropriate tears.

“I’m here now, cowboy,” Hanzo said, still so focused on the arm that didn’t notice McCree was about to burst into tears. The cowboy sobbed and hid his face, choking with emotion. 

“What is it? What did I do?” Hanzo asked, worried. She kneeled between his legs and tried to look at his face, but he wouldn’t let her, so she tangled her arms around his waist and held him tightly. Hanzo felt his irregular breathing and the thumping of his heart. Then, McCree placed his hand on her back, and she broke the hug to glance up at him. He wasn’t crying anymore but his cheeks were wet where the tears had been.

“Forgive this ol’ cowboy, sweet pie,” he apologized. Hanzo pressed her hands to his thighs and kissed McCree gently on the lips, tasting the salt of his tears. She sat again on his lap and the cowboy rested his head on her chest while she stroked his hair and kissed his head.   
“I’m here for you, Jesse,” Hanzo said. 

McCree breathed out and looked at her. “I’ve been a lone wolf for too long, darlin’,” he said, with a half-smile. “And you, takin’ care o’ me like that…” He shook his head, ashamed.

“I’ll always take care of you, stupid cowboy” Hanzo whispered, caressing his cheek with her thumb. It amazed her every time what a big heart McCree had hidden inside. “I’ve been meaning to ask you,” she hesitated. “What happened to your arm?” Her hand touched his shoulder and traced the scar near the cowboy’s chest.

“Ya’ know ‘bout Blackwatch, right?” he waited for Hanzo to nod. “I was an agent, that’s how I met your brother and became friends.”

“And I know you had made a name in the Deadlock Gang in your twenties,” Hanzo arched an eyebrow at him.

“That’s a story for another day, sweetheart,” the cowboy chuckled and continued. “It was supposed to be simple, get in, get out kind of mission. Genji and I cleared the building quickly, petty criminals gun smuggling wasn’t a match for us. We had the cargo secured, just waitin’ for the pick-up team. I was lightin’ a smoke when I heard a noise behind me. One of the motherfuckers was still alive, in hidin’. I’m the quickest, and I put a bullet between his eyes, just a little too late, the bastard shot the grenades crates behind me and the explosion smashed me against the wall, burying me between a jumble of metal and debris. The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital bed having lost my arm and my hat. I loved that hat.” McCree finished his story with a sigh. Losing his arm had been hard, but it worked out well in the end.

“You were lucky, cowboy. That you didn’t lose more than that,” Hanzo said.

“I know, Genji heard the explosion and came back lookin’ for me, he dragged me out and saved my life before the whole place went to hell. The rest is just a lot of hospital bullshit and recovery,” McCree told her, playing with a lock of her hair and remembering the pain and the rehabilitation he had to endure.

“Who made your arm?” Hanzo curiously asked.

“One of the best engineers in the world, Torbjörn Lindholm,” McCree said. “But I have to thank Dr. Ziegler and her team too. I wonder where they are right now.”

“Are you feeling better, cowboy?” Hanzo smiled and tilted her head.

“Snug as a bug in a rug,” he said.

“You know half the time I don’t understand what you’re saying, right?” she said, laughing.

“That’s how I won yer heart, my dear,” McCree said, pulling the belt from her robe to open it and sneaking a hand to touch her skin. “I’ma feelin’ hungry all of a sudden.” He dragged her to the bed with him and lay at her side, already pressing his tongue against her neck.

“Jesse,” Hanzo said.

“Darlin’?” He stopped and glanced at her.

“Don’t leave?” It was a demand that her fears transformed into a question. One that Hanzo knew the answer to, but needed to hear.

“Leave? Why? Ya’ want me to leave?” the cowboy frowned.

“No, but with all this thing with my father...,” Hanzo sighed, “and Genji is right, we are in danger here.”

“I don’t give a shit about your father, much less about some criminals. I’ve dealt with their kind before and I told you, my gun is yours, my dear,” he reassured her, playing with the seam of her robe.

“Are you sure, cowboy?”

“There are only two ways I’m leavin’ Hanamura, sweetheart, either you ask me to or with you by my arm, otherwise, you’re stuck with the cowboy,” McCree said, as half-smile drew his lips when he saw Hanzo smile at his words.

Hanzo tangled a leg to his waist and an arm around his neck, kissing him deeply, parting his mouth with her tongue to taste the words she had never heard before, trusting meaningful ones that made her feel that she belonged, that the stupid cowboy was her home.

“You don’t know what you’re getting into, Jesse,” she said, interrupting the kiss.

“Oh, but darlin’ I know exactly where I’m gettin’ into…” he said, clawing his fingers at her thigh and biting her neck, making her whine and scratch his back.   
  
  


Hanamura was beautifully tinged with pink as Spring marched in the garden as well as the cherry blossoms orchard. The days were longer, and the sun punished vividly at high noon. Hanzo resumed her work in the garden, after a harsh winter, and had spent most of the morning taking care of the parterres. Her forehead shined with pearls of sweat and her face was flushed by the sun and the effort. She smiled at the sight of the cowboy walking towards her with a tall glass in his hand. Taking off the working gloves, Hanzo took a moment to relish in the view of the cowboy, his certain walking, the way he tipped his hat to greet her, not sure if a gesture of shyness or haughtiness, and particularly, paying attention to the glittering in his eyes, that small twitch of his lips whenever he saw her. Unnoticeable for anyone not knowing what to look for. She was lost for sure in the charms of the cowboy, gleefully lost. As soon as he kneeled at her side, Hanzo pressed her lips into his mouth and kissed him, a longing gasp leaving her lungs.

“Ain’t you the sweetest peach of all, my dear,” he said with a growl, offering her his handkerchief to dry the sweat.

“That’s for me?” Hanzo asked, pointing at the tall glass in his hand.

“McCree’s special lemonade just for you, darlin’,” he gave it to her as the ice on it made a tinkling noise. She took it swiftly, thirsty after the hard work, and drank a little, but soon she was avidly gulping the beverage. It was just sweet enough, sour enough, just perfect. Hanzo finished the drink in a heartbeat, letting out her breath approvingly.

“I hope there’s more in the kitchen because it’s so delicious,” she said, broadly smiling and looking at the cowboy, who nodded at her.   
“Anythin’ for ya’, honey,” he said, cupping her face. “Fancy a walk?” McCree asked, standing up and offering his hand. 

“Sure, cowboy,” Hanzo said, shaking off the dust in her lap and taking his hand to stand up.   
They walked for a while between cherry trees crowded with pink and white flowers. McCree had never seen anything that astonishing in his life, it was like if they were in another world, far, far away from reality, somewhere only for them, where the dragon and the wolf gamboled free of any disturbance. Hanzo stopped and leaned on one of the trees, glancing up at the beautiful spectacle.

“My father rejected my help yesterday,” Hanzo finally said.

“I reckon of somethin’ like that had happened,” the cowboy knew something was off when she came back home with a gloomy face the other day.

“He has a death sentence over his head. If they attempt against his life Genji and I will find out, we still have informers there, but I fear the worst,” Hanzo confessed. Even after all these years, she was worried about his father.

“I ain’t much for waitin’ ‘round either, sugar,” McCree said, taking her hand and kissing it briefly.

“There’s nothing else we can do now, but Jesse… I have a bad feeling.” Her eyes were full of fear, deep dark eyes that once had been hard to read, and now were an open book to McCree. He grabbed her waist and got closer to her.

“I’m here with you,” he said, looking at her, wanting to reassure her, and kissing her before she could say anything else. His lips stroked Hanzo’s gently while his arms enveloped her, almost lifting her off the ground. She opened her mouth and gasped his name, enough for the cowboy to deepen the kiss, tasting the lemonade while his tongue mercilessly assailed her mouth. McCree felt her body underneath the soft fabric of her clothes and groaned, yearning her flesh. 

Hanzo wrapped her arms around his backside and chuckled. “Is that Peacekeeper?” McCree reached for the gun at his back.

“I feel better with her near me,” the cowboy said, feeling the weight of the gun and holding it tight. The revolver shined like brand new in the afternoon sun, and Hanzo saw something perilous in McCree’s eyes, something that clenched her stomach and aroused her at the same time.

“May I?” she asked, meeting the cowboy’s eyes. A mischievous smile appeared in his mouth. He twirled the gun around his trigger finger, and Hanzo saw Peacekeeper spin to stop with the handle invitingly looking at her. She grasped her hand around the grip and her arm dropped at the weight, earning a snort from the cowboy.

“My two favorite girls together, oh my,” McCree said, watching Hanzo take the gun with both hands. “It’s unloaded, don’t worry.” He looked at her inspecting the gun and running her hands over the barrel and the cylinder. No one touches his gun, and the fact that he trusted her enough to let her handle it, warmed the cowboy’s heart.

“It is so exquisite and well-made, very big and heavy. I’ve never had anything like this in my hands,” Hanzo said.

“Well honey, I wouldn’t say anything, ya’ know,” McCree arched an eyebrow at her, and Hanzo laughed at the dirty joke. She had shot guns before, but automatic Glocks, not a revolver like Peacekeeper.

“The impact of the kick has to be brutal,” Hanzo said while McCree grasped her waist to stand behind her. His right hand met hers around the grip and he lifted the gun for her.

“Look through the sight,” he whispered. The brim of the hat was touching Hanzo’s head. He breathed softly in the skin behind her ear, making her flinch. The cowboy groaned and bit her earlobe, and her body leaned back, surrendering at his touch.

“Not fair, cowboy,” Hanzo protested, and they lowered the arms, still gripping Peacekeeper tightly. “I am stronger than I look,” she told him.

“I have no doubt, sweetheart,” McCree said, “but if I get close enough you won’t stand a chance against me, darlin’.”

“But I wouldn’t let that happen,” she teased him.

“Are you sure?” McCree said, grasping her waist with both his arms and bringing her closer to him, still gripping the gun. She moaned and tilted his head back, leaving her neck exposed to the cowboy, who kissed her flesh demandingly, biting gently at first, until he felt Hanzo’s hand sneaking between them and palming the bulk in his groin. Then, he clenched his teeth at the base of her neck and groaned. Hanzo smirked, grinding against his body, knowing it would drive McCree mad with desire.

“Honey if you keep doin’ that I’ma gonna have my way with ya’ here and now,” he warned her, touching her neck and turning her head to trap her mouth in a deep kiss.

“We should go back, then” Hanzo gasped in his mouth.

McCree’s clouded judgment didn’t need more. He kept Peacekeeper at the belt of his pants, and he and Hanzo walked back, hand in hand, between chuckles and jokes. There was something in Hanzo that ignited the most inner lusciousness in him, an eagerness to possess her, stronger than anything he had ever experienced. 

Proof of that was the way McCree ripped open Hanzo’s shirt as soon as they were in their room. The buttons scattered unceremoniously on the floor, her bra followed the same fate, and the rest of her clothes were removed with the same ruthless lack of precision. Soon, she stood naked in front of the cowboy, his lewd eyes menacing to eat her up while a sinful wolf-like smile appeared in his mouth. 

The cowboy hadn’t even taken off his hat, licking his lips at Hanzo’s exposed nipples perked up in front of him.

“What is it, cowboy?” Hanzo said, getting closer to gently steal his hat and put it on herself. McCree kissed her with willingness, his tongue stroked her lips and parted them to tease inside her mouth, savoring her and grunting. He broke the kiss to take off the hat and toss it away.

“The only thing I want on you is me,” the cowboy said, also removing the silk bow that tied her hair and smelling the sweet scent of it before dropping the ribbon on the floor. Hanzo shuddered at his words and at the tickling of her own hair at her back. He avidly devoured her mouth again, clawing his fingers at her backside and stealing a whine from her. McCree bit and licked her lips until they were swollen and pink, gasping for air. Hanzo had her body pressed tightly against the cowboy, feeling the roughness of his clothes on her skin. She was overexcited by the fact that he was still wearing his clothes and she was completely naked at his mercy. A thrill grew between her legs, feeling her own pleasure pulsing.

Hanzo helped him with his shirt, touching his muscled chest, relishing in the view of the cowboy while he unbuckled his belt and she pulled down his pants. The swell in his groin suggested a huge erection underneath, which she hurried to touch, sneaking a hand inside his briefs. McCree grunted and removed his boxers swiftly.

“Can I trick you into a quick shower?” Hanzo asked.

“I’ma gonna play with you first, my dear,” McCree said in a growl while Hanzo stroked his hard shaft.

“You are so impatient sometimes, cowboy,” she whispered, leaning forward to press her tongue into his neck and suck his skin, pumping faster his length and listening to his moans of pleasure when she stopped to circle her thumb on his wet tip.

“And you love that, darlin’,” McCree said, lifting her off the floor and taking her to the bed. He lay on top of Hanzo and gripped both her wrists above her head. He pressed himself against her body and groaned when she wrapped her legs around his waist. Hanzo loved the cowboy’s thirst for her, his hands over her, and that unbridled joy that enveloped her every time.

“It’d be easier if you just tied me up, cowboy,” Hanzo said, struggling at the grip of McCree’s hands on her wrists.

The smirk on McCree’s face widened. “Would you let me do that, sweetheart?”   
“Would you like that?” Hanzo felt his member twitch against her core and the grip on her wrists tightened.

“I ain’t gonna lie,” he said, taking both her wrists together with his right hand. “The great dragon tied up under my mercy.” While his left hand squeezed one of her breasts.

“Jesse, you, naughty cowboy.” Hanzo let her tongue out to lick McCree’s lips and arched her hips at him when she felt his body moving, and his thick length teasing her entrance. His hand lazily traveled down her body to grasp mercilessly her thigh, lifting her leg to trap the back of her knee with his arm.

McCree licked her neck, salty by the sweat in her skin, and thrust gently to slide the tip of his cock inside her. “Yer’ so wet for me, honey,” he said and sucked her flesh from her neck and down her collarbone while Hanzo moaned and tried to meet his hips arching her back. “You want me so bad, already?” the cowboy teased her.

“Yes,” Hanzo glared at him, trying to release the grip on her wrists. “Now.”

He chuckled and thrust a little inside her, just to slide out again. “An’ you called me eager earlier,” he said, biting her lower lip and going down to bit one of her nipples, while his erection teased her core and stroked between her legs with the rocking of his hips. Hanzo moaned loudly, trying to move against him.

“Please, Jesse,” she said, watching how the cowboy lapped her nipple, soaked in his saliva, and trailed a road of bites to her other breast. She desperately whined. “Jesse…” But he kept nibbling her flesh and leaving love bites.

McCree loosened the grip on her wrists to turn her around, her back now exposed to him and her stomach on the bed. His right hand clasped her wrists together again, and she moaned, protesting.

“Ya’ know sweetheart, the day I saw you gettin’ inked outside, and you were lying like this,” his voice was hoarse and full of lust, and his breath warmed up the back of her ear. “I couldn’t help myself.” The cowboy’s robotic hand stroked her tattoos from the shoulder to her little back, finally clawing his rough metal fingers in her ass, stealing another moan from her.    


Hanzo arched her spine at him to feel the cowboys throbbing length teasing her again. “I thought about makin’ love to you like this, helpless and sayin’ my name,” he confessed, and kissed her exposed flushed face, resting his whole body on her back. His thick length resting between her buttcheeks, and the cowboy impassible at Hanzo’s attempts to lead him inside her.

“Stupid cowboy, fuck me already,” Hanzo begged. “Please.” She tried to move underneath him, but he had her pinned to the bed. McCree’s wolfish laugh made her tremble and ache for him even more. The cowboy let go of her wrists, and Hanzo leaned on her forearms while the cowboy flung his right arm around her neck and kissed her cheek again, warm pink cheek bright with lusciousness.

“I’m a tease, I know, sweetheart,” he whispered into her ear while he placed his legs on both sides of her body, his thick length pressing at her entrance again. When Hanzo felt the tip of the cowboy’s cock inside she moaned with yearning. “Just so ya’ know, I’ma gonna come the second I’m inside you, the teasin’ goes both ways.”

Hanzo arched her back to the cowboy again and he buried his thick length deep inside her in one move, they both joined in a loud groan of pleasure while he thrust again, his member tightly trapped between her slick warm folds. His left arm gripped her hip as his right one held her. She moaned while biting the cowboy’s forearm to repress the loud wails at the increasingly faster onslaughts of his cock.

“Jesse,” Hanzo gasped, relishing in the weight of the cowboy on top of her, being completely defenseless at the thrusts of his hips and his bites. She held her breath as her orgasm built up and tackled over her body, led by the fast irregular movements of the cowboy. And his throbbing length, squeezed by her walls and sending him to the edge too. The intensity of making love to her drove him wild, he couldn’t help himself, her moans, her body under him, it was too much. He spilled himself inside her, grunting and clenching his teeth on her shoulder. McCree buried his member deeper into her before collapsing on top of Hanzo.

“Darlin’, I love you so much,” he said, his cheek touching hers, both breathless.

“One day, cowboy,” Hanzo gasped. “I’m going to tie you up and tease you for hours just to get back at you.”

“Lookin’ forward to that, sugar,” he said, holding her tightly with both arms and kissing her everywhere around her shoulders and neck, making her chuckle. “But right now, you’re mine, all mine… my sweet pie,” the cowboy said, rolling with her to a side.

“You know what’d be great right now?” Hanzo said with a mischievous smile.

“Ya’ want some lemonade,” McCree chuckled, anticipating an imminent trip to the kitchen.   
  
  
  
Genji was dangerously driving too fast, the sports car roared furiously and dodged the other few vehicles gracefully. They were running out of time. Hanzo was in the passenger seat, her bow and arrows between her legs and McCree on the back, loading Peacekeeper and smoking a cigarette. She had insisted that the cowboy stayed in Hanamura, but he was stubborn and didn’t want to leave them alone. Genji had received notice from one of his informants that the Shimada headquarters was under attack, and their father in danger. This was what Hanzo was expecting from the Elders after her renounce. 

The streetlights blinded them as they left them behind, the road was almost empty at this wee hours, but they still needed some more minutes to get there. They had little time to prepare and Hanzo knew they would arrive too late. She was furious, all her life devoted to an ungrateful criminal organization, feathering their nest on the Shimada family for generations. As soon as they arrived, Hanzo burst in through the building doors, which were wide open. 

_ Not a good sign _ , she thought.

Hanzo moved fast, lurking the empty halls and heading for the elevators to reach her father’s office. She heard Genji yelling at her to slow down, but she was in a frenzy. Hanzo took the elevator and the doors closed before McCree and Genji could step inside. She also heard McCree’s cursing and felt bad leaving the cowboy behind like that, but there was no time.

“For god’s sake, Hanzo!” McCree shouted, watching how the elevator doors closed in front of him. Genji kicked the trash can beside it while the other elevator responded to their call. The Shimada had his trustful katana behind his back. McCree had seen him using it on too many occasions, and knew the young man was deadly and formidable with his weapon. He drew Peacekeeper out, just in case, if they found trouble.

“Teamwork has never been her strength,” Genji said, trying to ease the worried cowboy. They got inside the elevator, the way up seemed to last an eternity, but the doors finally opened in a poorly illuminated hall. Two bodies welcomed them, one with an arrow between the eyes and the other with an open throat. McCree swallowed, he had never seen Hanzo in action, but he imagined she was as lethal as her brother, or even more. He followed Genji swiftly through the hall, there was a faint light at the end, seeping through a half-opened door.

They saw two more bodies when they opened the door. Hanzo was crouching in front of her father. Sojiro Shimada himself, hurt and spitting blood.

“Dad!” Genji said, joining her sister. McCree kept guard at the door, just in case there were more men coming for them. Unlikely, though. The job was already done. They were too late.

“Sparrow, my son,” Sojiro said with a hoarse voice, the voice of a dying man. “Hanzo, you need to know I didn’t risk your life that night, that I was betrayed as you wisely warned me. You were always wiser than me, just like your mother.” The mention of their mother brought tenderness to Hanzo’s eyes.

“Don’t talk, father. Help is on its way,” Hanzo said, her voice cracking, filled with emotion. 

“I must,” the old man protested. “When your mother left us I didn’t want you or Genji to inherit this kingdom of blood, suspicion, and death. But you, my daughter, were tenacious until the very end.” He proudly smiled at her and it stung like a knife into Hanzo’s heart. 

“I thought it was expected of me,” Hanzo said, repressing the tears and trying to stop the bleeding on his father’s side. All those years trying to live up to her father’s expectations and she was doing exactly the opposite. All the times she had killed and didn’t see pride in his eyes but… disappointment. No, it wasn’t that. It was remorse what her father felt every time she came back victorious from a bloodbath.

“I want you both to live your lives freely. Don’t be a slave to the wealth, the power or the past, own your lives.” Sojiro Shimada told them, cupping Hanzo’s face and leaving a blood mark on her cheek before it dropped harshly as the last breath of life left his body.

“Farewell, father,” Hanzo said. Genji gasped and held her sister. After a few moments, Genji let her go and she stood up. “I’ll make the arrangements for the funeral.” 

Even if she looked like a cold-hearted bitch, McCree knew she was devastated. He saw it in her eyes. He hadn’t understood a word of what they had talked about, but he didn’t need that to understand how meaningful it had been.

Hanzo walked towards him and rested her head on his chest for a moment, closing her eyes and feeling the cowboy’s hand rubbing her back. She deeply thanked the cowboy for being there with her, he kept her feet on the ground, despair at bay. Nothing was irremediable or unbearable with him by her side.

“Do you have a cigarette, cowboy?” she asked.

McCree reached for the pack of cigarettes and lighted one for her, taking a drag and handing it to Hanzo after. “I’m sorry ‘bout your father, my dear,” he said. Hanzo cupped his face with one hand and briefly kissed him. McCree would swear he saw a tear smearing the blood on her cheek and his heart ached for her and Genji. He knew too well what having no family meant as he had been alone most of his adult life, but he would be there for Hanzo no matter what.

 

With the last member of their family deceased, Genji and Hanzo only had each other. Their mother was gone long ago, the Shimada clan tore apart quickly, and the vultures were eager to despoil their legacy. Two days after Shojiro Shimada’s death the funeral took place. McCree had peeked at the crowd, surprised there were so many people, but, as Hanzo had told him, few of them were friendly.

  
The Shimada elders had taken control of the operations right after the incident. Everything had been calculated carefully. McCree had stood right behind Hanzo when she talked to who the cowboy thought was one of the bigwigs. He had attracted a lot of curious glances at the closeness with Hanzo, and he liked it. He wanted them to know he was there to protect her and he deeply wished they knew about his past.  Judging by Hanzo’s steady face, and her white knuckles, she had been angry at what the elder had told her.

Genji hadn’t been himself this past few days, and neither had Hanzo, but while she kept herself busy with arrangements and paperwork, not allowing herself to stop and think for too long, her brother had been mourning his father and relying on the cowboy. McCree remembered the words Genji translated at the funeral while Hanzo had spoken. 

With every death, comes honor. With honor, redemption, Genji had said, and his voice cracked.

But everything was over now, they were home and Hanzo was taking a shower after what had been a long day, and a long night. She hadn’t slept. Instead, she had wandered around the house until dawn. The cowboy was waiting, uneasy, for her to come out of the bathroom. She had been quieter than usual after the conversation with the elder. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the intricacies of the yakuza and the dangers of that declining world.   
She’s been there too long, he thought.

Something in his gut told him to get in there, that something was off, so he stood up and knocked on the door twice with no answer. When he came into the bathroom he saw Hanzo sitting in the shower tray, hugging her legs and trembling.

“Oh no, sweetheart,” McCree said and crouched in front of her, the water was steeping his sleeve while he cupped her face. Hanzo had been crying, probably still was, but the water masked her tears. Her face and eyes were red, and McCree melted at the way her lower lip twitched when she looked at him. He knew sooner or later she would break, he had come to know her well enough for that.

“I’m sorry, I just…” Hanzo said, trying to keep herself together. Weakness wasn’t something she was used to showing to anybody. She watched while McCree turned off the water.

“You’ve taken care of everythin’. Genji is doin’ better now. Let me take care of you, darlin’,” McCree said, lifting her off the floor and wrapping a towel around her body. He held her and kissed her forehead.

“Let’s go to America, cowboy, the only thing left for us here is death,” Hanzo said.

“Wherever you go, I go, my dear,” he said, kissing her lips.

“The elders demanded today that I kill my brother if he can’t play a more prominent role,” Hanzo said, as if she didn’t have enough with her father’s dead that they suggested, for the good of the Shimada Clan, that she killed the only member of her family she had left.

“Jesus, Hanzo, ain’t you all fuckin’ crazy here?” McCree said, and Hanzo snorted.

“We need to leave. Tomorrow,” she said. “I’m not their puppet anymore and I’d rather set off than stay and watch them ruin all my family.” McCree nodded. Coming back to America. Coming back to America with Hanzo. He smiled at the perspective of a future with her, something new for them. A new life.

 

  
McCree woke up with Hanzo’s hand over his mouth. She didn’t startle him because he recognized her weight on top of him even before he had opened his eyes. It was almost dawn as a faint blue light bathed the room, but this wasn’t her usual way of waking him up, something was wrong.

“There’s someone in the house,” she whispered. He nodded and rubbed his eyes before drawing Peacekeeper from her holster, conveniently placed on the bedside table. McCree took a sidelong of Hanzo on her robe, with the arrows at her back and the bow in her hand, that made him shudder in front of the deadly danger that she was.

Hanzo quietly opened the sliding door that led to the garden. A quick arrow silently killed an unaware assassin, the only noise made was the one his body did stumbling into the ground near the parterres. 

McCree followed Hanzo, he guessed they were looking for Genji. The house was in the dark and it was hard to see until your eyes got used to it. The wooden porch creaked under his weight while he pored over the landscape looking for threats.

Suddenly, Hanzo stopped. A noise on top of them suggested someone was on the roof right above them. Hanzo pulled back the bowstring, ready to strike an arrow while the cowboy did the same with the gun’s hammer, Peacekeeper ready to dispense justice. A smiling Genji hung from the roof and Hanzo rolled her eyes at him.

“How many there are?” Hanzo asked him.

“There’s a black car at the entrance. I’ve taken one down and I saw at least four more,” Genji said.

“We need to get our things and leave before…” A thunderous noise interrupted her. McCree put a bullet in one of the intruders who dared to cross the garden in the open.

“That thing is too noisy, cowboy,” Hanzo complained.

“Just like me, darlin’,” he winked at her.

“I didn’t need to know that,” Genji said. “Thank you, guys.”

They moved, Genji still on the roof, to take cover and wait for the hitmen to come, lured by the gun’s noise. There were two more, who probably asked for reinforcements already. Hanzo was behind a tree, with a perfect view of the house and McCree was at a middle range crouching behind a pretil, hoping to get their attention first. He shot at something moving behind a corner of the house, blowing a piece of the structure in the process and giving up his position. 

The assassin shot back at him a full ammunition clip, but before he could take cover again, McCree blew his head up. He smirked, reloading Peacekeeper when the last one of the intruders perilously approached him, fully dressed in black, the only thing standing out were his eyes, glittering in the dark. He had time to stop the sharp blade with his robotic arm once, but the ninja was too fast and rolled over to land another merciless stab with his katana.

Hanzo tensed and pulled back the bowstring, waiting for a shot. McCree was too close to the target, but she couldn’t take the risk. A ninja at close range with a katana was a huge risk, even for the cowboy. She let go the well-aimed arrow, that crossed the air swiftly to strike the head of the ninja before the blade would harm the cowboy again. Hanzo ran towards him, his heart thumping in her chest until she realized he was fine.

“Pretty handy with that bow, sweetheart,” the cowboy said, and she smirked at him.

“We have to pick our things up and leave. I’ll call the airport and get the family jet ready for us in a couple of hours,” Hanzo said, walking towards the house with the cowboy to find Genji with two black bags in his hands. Being a criminal organization had its perks, and one of them was a lot of cash.   
  


They packed light and left the house. Hanzo stood there looking at what had been her home her whole life and held her breath, not knowing when she would come back to her home, though maybe, it wasn’t her home anymore. She wasn’t just leaving a house behind, but a life that didn’t belong to her, that didn’t fulfill her and that brought disgrace and pain to her family. She glanced at the cowboy putting the bags in the trunk of the black Mercedes and smiled.

_ Stupid cowboy _ , Hanzo thought.   
  
Genji was driving. Like you could do something to stop the young Shimada from jumping behind a wheel at any chance. Hanzo was distracted with her phone arranging their flight to New York. She still had an unfinished business in Japan, but one thing at a time. Three more black Mercedes crossed in the opposite direction in the road, clearly heading to the house. The lights blinded them momentarily and, as soon as the other cars passed theirs and recognized it, a screech and a squeak from the breaks and the tires followed while all three vehicles alarmingly sped up towards them.

“Fuck,” Genji cursed, stepping on the accelerator. McCree thought they were lucky the young Shimada was such a good driver and looked through the back window to see the lights of the vehicles threatening them, getting closer fast.

Hanzo’s eyes met the cowboy’s. “Hand me my bow,” she said.

“Darlin’, I don’t think arrows…” he said.

“Hand me my bow, Jesse,” Hanzo ordered, and he swiftly gave it to her. She opened the roof window and the cold morning air filled the inside of the car. Genji was focused on driving, but he forcefully grabbed the shirt of her sister as she stood up and her upper body stuck out the car.

“McCree!” Genji yelled, and the cowboy helped him too.

Hanzo breathed in, watching the three cars in line following them and she smirked, a life-threatening smile that ignited the dragons inside her. She pulled back the bowstring with an arrow ready to be struck, a skeptical McCree holding her legs inside the car.

“龍が我が敵を食らう,” Hanzo yelled, an echoed voice that made McCree shiver. She released the arrow, now glowing in blue along with her left arm. The projectile got lost and broke in the windshield, but two huge tangled dragons roared in the morning light and went through everything in their way as several electrifying flashes of lightning glared at them. The cars behind drifted in the ditch, one by one, at the pass of the dragons, that disappeared in the distance after a while.

McCree’s eyes opened wide and he had to turn his head around to look at the fury Hanzo had unleashed upon their enemies.

“Darlin’, ain’t you full of surprises,” the cowboy said. “Those are the dragons of my dreams.” helping her back inside the safety of the car. Hanzo was panting by the effort, trying to catch her breath. She moved to the back seat with McCree and said something in Japanese to Genji.

“He’s not going to like that, sis,” he said, taking the next exit off the highway right to the city.

“Jesse, I need you to go with Genji to the airport while I take care of something in the city,” Hanzo said, meeting the cowboy eyes.

“I’m comin’ with you, sugar,” McCree said, frowning at her.

“I’ll go faster if I do it on my own,” she said, cupping his face and pressing her forehead into his. “A couple of hours tops and we will be on our way to your dreamland, cowboy.”

McCree grunted, but he knew deep inside there was nothing he could say or do to prevent her from doing what she had to do right now. That’s another thing he loved about her. 

“I ain’t goin’ anywhere without you, my dear.” He kissed her deeply until she pulled away to go back to the front seat. His old cowboy guts told him it was a bad idea, and it flinched his stomach. He lighted a smoke, fidgeting with the lighter in his hands and running this thumb over the kanjis engraved on it.

 

  
  
Fifteen minutes. McCree was at the stairs that led to the private jet waiting for her. No sign of Hanzo yet. Genji had tried to call her several times for the past two hours until they found her phone in one of the bags. The cowboy lighted another cigarette, he had lost count on how many he had had the past hour, but he wasn’t good at sitting tight and waiting. Even when he was younger, his lack of patience brought him trouble more than once.

McCree started pacing around, his right hand in his pocket and his eyes fixed in the distance. It was early in the morning but the end of the spring announced a warm day ahead, something he didn’t care about if she wasn’t with him.

_ She ain’t comin’ _ , he thought.

A knot settled in his throat when he realized Hanzo wasn’t coming, she was getting rid of him like everyone he had cared about in his life before. Genji went outside the plane to tell him they had to leave, that Hanzo had told him earlier that if she didn’t make it in time they had to leave nonetheless. McCree simply shook his head and refused to move. 

_ Genji better knocks me out and drags me inside because I ain’t goin’ anywhere without her _ , he thought.

He tossed the cig on the ground and stub the ashes out. He rummaged for another one when he found a piece of paper inside his pocket. The cowboy took it out to find the omikuji he had gotten in the temple some months ago. It was stuck together in a crumbling paste, but he recognized the thing and smiled. He remembered the kiss behind his hat, the first time he had told her he loved her, a slip of the tongue. He shook his head and chuckled. She had to come, she wouldn’t leave him like that.

“Happy to see me, cowboy?” Hanzo said, approaching him from a side.

McCree turned around and tipped his hat, getting closer to her and grabbing her waist. “I thought I’d lost ya, sweetheart,” he said. “Don’t do that to me again, my ol’ cowboy’s heart won’t take it.”

Hanzo kissed him, stroking her lips on the cowboy’s mouth, that promptly opened his to invade her with his tongue. She tasted the familiar tobacco in his mouth and wound her arms around his neck, his cowboy hat dropping on the floor when he lifted her off the ground and spun her around, to let her again on the floor and bit her lower lip.

“I know I’m a cheesy cowboy sometimes, but I love ya’ too much, my darlin’,” he said, grinning stupidly.

“I love you too, Jesse,” Hanzo said, smiling back at him.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we need to take off or wait another hour,” Genji said, peeking out the plane door.   
  
Once the three of them were in the roomy and comfortable seats of their jet they finally sighed in relief. The nightmare was over, and they would be able to relax and enjoy some peace for a change.

“Well sis, are you going to tell us what you had to do so urgently?” Genji arched an eyebrow at her and, McCree, who was sitting next to her, turned to look at her too.

Hanzo took a datapad from her purse and tossed it on the table between them. “Father’s life insurance. Everything we need to know to take the Shimada Clan and several other criminal organizations down for good,” she said, with a smug smile on her face.

“Nice, sis,” Genji said. “We can make a difference with that, and honor dad’s death.” McCree chuckled and kissed Hanzo’s cheek, then, he remembered something.

“Hey, Genji,” McCree said, throwing at him the lighter Hanzo had given him at Christmas. “What does it say here?” Hanzo opened her mouth wide and tried to stop him with little luck.

“Don’t! Jesse!” she complained and punched the cowboy’s shoulder. “Don’t read it,” she said to Genji, pointing at him. But it was too late, her little brother was bursting in laughter and giving the cowboy back the lighter.

“I didn’t know you were such a romantic, Hanzo,” Genji mocked her, still chuckling. Hanzo’s cheeks burned red. “私の龍の心 means my dragon heart,” he said, repressing a guffaw.

“I hate you both so much right now,” Hanzo said, hiding her face in the cowboy’s arm.

“My dear! Ain’t you a sweet peach, give me some sugar,” McCree said, cupping her face and kissing her, unable to hide the grin on his face.

“Please,” Genji said, covering his eyes. “It’s a fourteen hours flight and I remind you, Jesse, that’s my sister you’re choking with your tongue.” Genji said, crawling down his seat and covering his face to avoid the sight of McCree and Hanzo kissing.

 

***

 

A long flight after, they finally arrived at the east coast. Genji turned on his phone to open his eyes wide in surprise, tapping McCree’s shoulder to show him.

“Winston?” the cowboy said.

“Overwatch is back and they want us,” Genji said, smiling and excited.

“Overwatch?” Hanzo asked, surprised.

“An’ you’re comin’ with us, darlin’,” McCree said, grinning and wondering how would be to have the old gang together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe I have accomplished the "cheesy love-story" thing. I had so much fun writing this it won't be the last, still figuring out how Hanzo would tie McCree up to get back at him...
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos!!! and thank you so much @Ilyasviel, @vulparia and @LadyFear <3 <3 You're the best! 
> 
> English is not my mother tongue and I'm still learning and adapting my writing to something I'm comfortable with <3


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